


High School Tutor

by NormaJeanBeausoleil



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-29
Updated: 2013-07-06
Packaged: 2017-11-15 05:58:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 21,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/523908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NormaJeanBeausoleil/pseuds/NormaJeanBeausoleil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Previously/Currently posted on ffnet as well:</p><p>Summary: Axel gets detention and has to tutor an underclassman. Roxas is failing math. You see where this is going. </p><p>-------<br/>This is a really old story for me, and i'm not really looking for any constructive criticism on here. I just wanted to share it. If there are any grammatical errors, however, please let me know, but other than that, I would actually prefer not to hear about "this is poorly written because...."</p><p>It's only up here to entertain you. My writing has much improved since writing this, and I don't feel the need to revisit an old exercise. </p><p>I hope you did enjoy! Please leave kudos and any compliments about the story. Thanks!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Explosive Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> This is a really old story for me, and i'm not really looking for any constructive criticism on here. I just wanted to share it. If there are any grammatical errors, however, please let me know, but other than that, I would actually prefer not to hear about "this is poorly written because...."
> 
> It's only up here to entertain you. My writing has much improved since writing this, and I don't feel the need to revisit an old exercise. 
> 
> I hope you did enjoy! Please leave kudos and any compliments about the story. Thanks!

Chapter 1: Explosive Beginnings

Demyx chewed idly on a strawberry Twizzler. “What’cha doin’, Axel?”  
Zexion looked up from his book for Axel’s response.  
“Science experiment.” Axel carefully measured out some chemicals, and kept an eye on the Bunsen burner.  
“I can see why you like fire so much, Axel. That flame is pretty.”  
“Demyx, to you anything that emits or reflects light is pretty,” Axel stated passively, in his “science mode.”  
“Like they say, all that glitters is gold,” Demyx leaned slightly against Zexion, who sighed. 

xxXXXxxXXX

“Why aren’t you walking home with Roxas?” Riku asked his short companion.  
“He’s staying after to make up a geometry test he flunked last week,” Sora replied, liking a paintbrush sucker Demyx had given him earlier, turning his tongue purple. “Where are we going, anyway? You don’t have practice today, do you?” Sora queried.  
“No practice. We’re going to find Axel. He filched my history notebook,” Riku glanced into the various labs lining the upper hallway of the maths and sciences building.

xxXXXxxXXX

“There you are!” The pair walked into the lab where Axel, Demyx, and Zexion were hanging out.  
Demyx pointed and laughed at Sora. “Ha! Now your mouth is gay!” Sora blushed a deep red.  
“Demyx, don’t tease the underclassman,” Zexion spoke softly but sternly.  
“Sorry, Sora,” Demyx apologized whole heartedly.  
“Don’t worry about it,” Riku looked at Sora who was starting to cheer up. “Axel, where’s my notebook?”  
“A bit busy at the moment, Mister Star Athelete,” Axel said quietly, not diverting any of his attention. Riku raised an eyebrow and leaned against the cabinets lining the outer wall of the room. Sora started walking towards the group, but Riku stopped him, pulling him close. Sora blushed again lightly.  
“Guys, what is Axel doing? Does Professor Vexen know he’s…here…doing this?” Riku asked suspiciously.  
“Oops,” Axel said quietly and everyone (excepting Sora, who hadn’t seen any of Axel’s “mistakes” before) jumped. Molten chemicals spilled over from the flask and off the table, instantly burning through the wood floor completely. The room smelt with smoke and burnt plastic.  
Yells could be heard from the room below. “What the!” yelled an adult’s voice, and a younger voice screamed.  
Sora stiffened. “That’s Roxas!” he bolted out of the room.  
Demyx looked at Zexion, “who?” they followed Sora and Riku out the room and down the stairs.  
In the math classroom directly underneath the chemistry lab, a very shocked Roxas looked at the desk infront of him, which was collapsed upon itself from a burning molten blob that had burned through the ceiling of the room.  
“Roxas! You okay?” Sora panted.  
Roxas turned slowly to his half-brother. “Yeah.” He stood up and backed away from the mess. Riku, Sora, Roxas, Mr. Xigbar (Roxas’s math teacher,) Demyx and Zexion stared in shock.  
“Never a dull moment with Axel,” Zexion muttered.  
“Cool!” Demyx gazed at the whole in the ceiling.  
Axel ran into the room a moment later, looking around. “Nobody hurt?”  
Roxas looked at him, “What the hell were you doing?!”  
“AXEL!” Professor Vexen’s voice reverberated through the hole in the floor.  
“Shit.” Axel muttered.


	2. Chapter 2

“YOU TRIED TO CONDUCT A THERMITE REACTION WHEN I WASN’T THERE!” Professor Vexen screeched at Axel in the principle’s office.  
“I think I succeeded at it,” Axel muttered.  
“You could have harmed someone, Axel,” the principle finally spoke up. “That molten acid landed less than a foot from a student.”  
“But--!”  
“And have you any idea what the repairs are going to cost?” The principle looked at the eccentric student sternly. “Axel, you are a very intelligent student, but you seem to have too much time on your hands, and since detention doesn’t seem to be a deterrent in your case, I’ll have to find some other way to show you that your actions have repercussions.”   
Axel shrugged. “Am I dismissed?”   
“Yes.” 

XXxxXXXxXX

“So,” Sora interrupted Roxas’s daydream as they walked home together, “how was the rest of your test?” Sora smiled.  
Roxas sighed.   
“That bad, huh?” Sora glanced at his younger brother who wasn’t making eye contact with him at the moment. “Well, I would have trouble refocusing if I was almost killed too.” Sora smiled and shoving his brother affectionately.   
“Sora!” Roxas started exasperated. “It has nothing to do with focus. I just don’t get it. I’m not smart enough.”   
“Hey!” Sora countered. “You were better than I was at math in middle school.”   
“But that was just memorization. You just didn’t work hard enough at it. You have the attention span of a goldfish,” Roxas glanced at his brother, half smiling.   
“There was no Riku in middle school,” Sora stared up at the clouds, not watching where he was going. Roxas sighed. Goldfish, he thought. Then suddenly a smile burst across his face, using all his restraint to keep from laughing. 3…2…1  
“Ah! Roxas! Why didn’t you tell me I was about to walk into a mailbox!” 

XXXxXXXxxXX

The rest of the walk to their apartment complex was quiet. Roxas sighed leaning on the wall of the hallway for Sora to find his keys. “I think I’ll take a nap,” he mused to himself, drained from taking the retest and his near-death experience.  
Sora eventually got the door open, then shouted to their elder brother. “Cloud! Guess what happened to Roxas today!”   
“I’m definitely going to go take a nap,” Roxas said, angrily. 

xxXXXxx

“Roxas,” Zach’s voice came into the small bedroom. “Dinner’s ready.”  
“Mmrph,” Roxas turned into his pillow, then a waft of deliciousness hit him. He sat up groggily. “Cloud cooked?” he wiped the sleep from his eyes. He was sleeping hard.   
“Yeah. His turn to cook, Sora’s turn to do laundry,” Zach looked at the disheveled blonde who looked so much like his boyfriend in his adolescent days. “You coming?”   
“Yeah,” Roxas stretched.   
“My cousin is here too,” Zach said quietly.   
“Okay,” Roxas paused, “Thanks for the warning?”  
“You’ll need it.” With that Zach shut the door again, no doubt returning to his boyfriend.  
After a few weak attempts of getting his hair to do something normal, Roxas padded down to the kitchen, hearing two voices, Sora’s and someone else’s, exchanging rapid, energetic comments.   
“Whoa! Cloud take-two!” The strange voice said as Roxas entered the room.   
“Yeah, but Cloud and Sora are only my half-brothers,” Roxas said, offering the answer to the question that always came after such an observation.   
“Roxas, this is my cousin, Demyx,” Zach stated calmly. The blond, who was seated next to Sora at the table, leaned back and extended his hand to Roxas.  
“Nice to meet you,” Roxas gripped the hand awkwardly.   
“What’s the age gap between you two?” Demyx posed looking between Roxas and Cloud. “Ten years?’   
Roxas scowled. “I’m fifteen, Cloud’s twenty-one.”   
Sora energetically recaptured Demyx’s attention, “Cobra Starship???” Roxas was glad their guest didn’t have time to make the inevitable, vocalized realization that Roxas appeared to be twelve, or younger.  
“Oh! Yeah!” Demyx and Sora continued their conversation, which seemed to consist of little but nouns followed by agreement or disagreement, then another noun. It didn’t make sense to anyone else in the room.   
Roxas sighed, noticing the fact that the table was not set. Despite the fact that Sora was there before him and therefore responsible to make sure that they had something to eat on, he was captivated by someone new to entertain him. Roxas started getting the dishes and flatware out. “Thanks, Roxas,” Zach said, helping him with the plates.   
Soon they all sat at the table. Roxas ate quietly, staring at his food, mind blank. Sora and Demyx continued their conversation.—of sorts. Zach and Cloud were speaking to themselves.   
“So Roxas,” Cloud got his younger brother out of his stupor. “How was the retest?”  
Roxas looked back down to his plate and stabbed his mashed potatoes. “Pretty bad.” Just make my stupidity common knowledge, thanks Cloud.  
“Maybe we should get you a tutor,” Cloud ventured. “I’d tutor you myself but with class and work, there isn’t much time.”   
Roxas looked horrified. “I don’t need a tutor! We can’t afford one anyway.”  
“I can get in touch with the school. Maybe there’s an after-school program or something.” Cloud went back to eating.   
Roxas sighed at picked at his meatloaf, no longer hungry.   
The rest of the meal was silent. As they finished eating, Sora gasped.  
“What?” Cloud asked calmly.   
“Can I hang out with Riku tonight? I totally forgot! Please please please!” Sora pleaded at his brother giving him puppy dog eyes.  
Cloud looked at him, perplexed. “Sure? I don’t see why not.”  
“We can give you a lift, Sora,” Zach offered. “It’s on the way to the university, anyhow. You’ll just have to sit in the back with that spazz.” Zach motioned to Demyx  
“No problem!”  
The crowd left, and Roxas took his turn cleaning the dishes. He sighed as he drifted back into his and Sora’s room. The evening sun filtered in through the blue curtains, giving the room an aquatic feel. He climbed into his top bunk and turned on his Nintendo DS. “A 4.0 GPA scholarship student, and a popular, well loved student council president, and then me: an unwanted idiot who can’t even pass math.” Roxas spoke to himself as he waited for the game to power up.   
“Ugh! Sora didn’t do laundry!” Roxas groaned.


	3. Chapter 3

“-xas,” a voice said something? A hand snaked around his wrist. “Roxas! You’re going to be late for school! I’m leaving with Riku.”   
“Sora, you scared me half to death!” Roxas complained loudly, panting for breath.  
“Well, at least you’re up!” Sora sprinted out of the room.   
Roxas got up and washed his face. He went to the closet and looked at his half, which had one green long-sleeved shirt that Xion had given him a while back. He put it on.   
“Did it shrink or did I grow?” He looked at the shirt. While the sleeves still reached half-way down his hands, the length of it was short, exposing his midriff. He sighed. “It shrank.” He looked through the closet. “Guess I’m wearing Sora’s clothes since he didn’t do laundry like he was supposed to.”  
He looked at his watch. “Fifteen minutes to get to school! Shit!” He quickly grabbed a pair of Sora’s jeans, one of his own belts. He threw on shoes, grabbed his backpack, and ran outside.  
“Damnit!” He ran back inside, the morning was rather cool and he needed another layer. “Everything of mine is dirty!” He looked quickly through the closet, finally spying a sunny yellow short-sleeved hoodie folded on the top shelf. He half-jumped, half climbed and retrieved it. Throwing it on before running back out. 

xxXXXxxXXX

The seniors strolled tardily into their homeroom class. Xigbar, the shop teacher and homeroom teacher to Axel, Demyx, and Zexion, smoked outside the workshop made classroom.   
Demyx and Zexion were the only two seniors who always arrived on time. Most other were sometimes late, and only Axel was dependably late, usually arriving five minutes before the useless gathering time was over. Xigbar was finishing his second cigarette when the red head strolled up.   
“Here,” Zigbar fished a paper out of his pocket.  
“Ah Ziggy, a love note? I always knew you cared.” Axel batted his eyelashes at the older man.   
“It’s from the principle, you brat prick,” Zigbar smirked as Axel opened the paper, entering the classroom.  
“What!? I have to tutor a freshman!?” Axel groaned.


	4. Chapter 4

Axel sat on the side of a tree planter on the edge of the school courtyard. He leaned back, slightly. “So today I meet and begin tutoring a snot-nosed freshman,” he complained to himself. “If only I hadn’t used so much bromide.” He searched in his pockets for his pack of cigarettes. He found them and was about to pull one out when he say a young kid walking towards him.   
Wow. He’s beautiful. And will be even more so if he ever grows. Axel admired the blonde, who dressed like a sixth grader with preppy ambitions. Loose blue jeans with star patches, a bright yellow short-sleeved hoodie, and green argyle sleeves underneath. He had skinny arms and unruly hair.   
The blonde glared at him. “You know, you really shouldn’t be smoking.” He spoke in a low, lyrical but serious voice.   
“Try to stop me,” Axel smirked, and lowered the pack down near his ankles and opened it. In a moment, the blond was squatting before him, grabbing for the pack.  
“Nope!” Axel jerked up his arm above his head, still going for a cigarette. Roxas rocked forward on his knees, kneeling between Axel’s legs, and quickly stretched up and grabbed the pack from his hands.   
“Got it!” He said triumphantly.   
“Got you,” Axel replied sarcastically, wrapping his arms around the blonde, slightly squeezing his ass.  
Roxas looked behind him, realized he had been goaded, and blushed deeply. “Pervert, let go!”  
“But I like you like this,” Axel spoke smoothly.   
Roxas’s blush grew to encompass his ears and trail down his neck. His face hardened. “I’m warning you,” he growled.  
“Oooh, feisty!” Axel’s grin widened pulling Roxas closer to him.  
With a sudden movement, Roxas thrust his shoulder up into Axel’s chin, stood up, then slapped Axel’s face in the opposite direction with his notebook.   
“Jerk,” Roxas stated and he ran off.   
“Damn,” Axel murmured and rubbed his chin with his hand. “That hurt.”

_______

 

Roxas stomped the entire way home. “What a creep!” He thought, “Just because you’re a LITTLE attractive doesn’t mean you can have your hands all over anyone! Sheesh!”  
Roxas slammed the front door, causing Riku and Sora to jump away from each other on the couch in the living room.   
“What a jerk!” Roxas slammed down his backpack, and shucked off his shoes.  
“erm…Who?” Sora asked innocently. Sora and Riku exchanged nervous glances, mutually hoping that Roxas’s fury was a bout of over-protectiveness directed at Riku.  
“That Axel Stanton creep!” Roxas huffed and marched through the living room to kitchen to make himself a bowl of angry-cocoapuffs. Riku sighed and relaxed into the couch. Sora looked over at him his boyfriend and smiled.  
Roxas marched back into the living room, sat down squarely on the overstuffed chair, and slowly ate his cereal, allthewhile giving the milk death-glares.   
“How were you in contact with the second hottest guy of the senior class?” Sora asked, trying to soothe his brother.  
Roxas glared at Sora for a split moment, than resumed stabbing the half-filled bowl with the spoon, making small splatters appear on the sides of the dish. “Free math tutor,” Roxas half seethed, half moaned.  
“I’ve known Axel for a couple years now,” Riku started cautiously. Roxas kept his eyes trained on his food, not wanting to snap at dear Sora’s boyfriend. “He’s not too bad a guy, once you get over how eccentric he can be at times.”   
Roxas laughed in a mirthless, cold way. “Ha! Eccentric is one way to put it.” He finished his cereal, then excused himself. 

XXxxXXXxx

The Next Day…

The cigarette almost fell out of Zigbar’s mouth with a certain infamous red-headed senior walked past him, breezing into home room a full five minutes EARLY.   
Zexion quirked an eyebrow in reaction to the redhead. Demyx barely looked up, slightly agitated that he would not be able to monopolize on his Zexion today. This was quickly forgotten however, since the blonde’s moods shifted so quickly they that he often gave people emotional whiplash and shock.   
“HI AXIE!” Demyx half hugged his friend, who was pulling up a chair next to the two.   
“Demyx, buddy, let me breathe!” Axel smiled, then nodded to Zexion, and the two shook hands.   
Zexion put a page marker in his book, and waited all of three seconds for the obvious question to be asked by Demyx. “So, why are you here so early today?”  
“I need help on trying to get a hot little blonde I met yesterday. I think I scared him off.” Axel stated, whimsically looking off to the dilapidated drop ceiling of the room.  
“Are you serious? I would think you would just cut your losses and move on?” Demyx mused.  
“Nah, this is love at first sight.” Axel sighed.  
“Well, the infamous Axel Stanton acting like a love-sick middle school girl, this is something new.” Zexion mused.   
“Where did you meet this ‘hot little blonde’?” Demyx leaned in closer, always eager for such intrigue.   
“Right outside the school, on the edge of the courtyard—I’m his math tutor,” Axel paused. “I might have come on a little too strongly.”   
“A little?” Zexion probed.  
“I may have groped him and he may have punched me in response, but that means he’s not easy and has fight in him.” Axel sighed contentedly.  
“Axel Stanton: Chemistry genius, real life idiot.” Zexion reflected.  
“When do you meet him again?” Demyx asked.   
“Tomorrow, if I can’t find him in the halls today.” Axel responded, still with the sighing love-sick tone of voice.  
“You should probably apologize to him for,” Demyx tried to find the right words, “trying to jump his bones two seconds after meeting him.”   
“And if you are seriously interested in him, you should probably find out who he is, and what his personality is like,” Zexion advised. The quiet senior then slightly smirked to himself, inspecting the bruise on Axel’s chin. ‘Punched you in the face, huh?’ he thought to himself, ‘He may not be an uke.’   
Axel daydreamed the rest of the homeroom. Demyx and Zexion resumed their lovers’ whispering (on the part of Demyx) and lovers’ meaningful glances (on the part of Zexion.)


	5. Chapter 5

Axel couldn’t wait to see his hot-little-blonde, but said blonde couldn’t wait to get out of the next encounter; so while Axel was daydreaming in homeroom, Roxas as in the Principal’s office trying to get a different tutor.  
“He’s awful! I can’t stand him. This is only going to make algebra harder,” Roxas reasoned exasperatedly.   
“I’ll speak with him,” the Principal looked at Roxas with kind eyes, almost pitying the small, angelic blond. “In the meanwhile, just try your hardest and give him a second chance.”   
“Alright,” Roxas drooped his shoulders in a pout and walked quietly out of the office. ‘How humiliating’ he thought. 

Linebreaklinebreaklalalalinebreak

Beep! “Professor Vexen, can you send Stanton to the Principal’s office please?” the intercom interrupted Vexen’s chemistry class in the first five minutes.  
“What did I do?!” Axel yelled back to the box sounding with the secretary’s voice.  
“He’ll be right down,” Vexen shot Axel a laser-precise death glare.   
Axel got out of the seat in the back of the classroom, as he passed by Riku’s chair in the front the silverette whispered, “20 minutes into the day—Really, Axel?” Riku smirked.  
“I didn’t do anything!” Axel acted innocent, which in this case, was the actual truth for once.   
“Axel, go get out!” Vexen’s voice was firm.   
Axel knocked impatiently on the Principal’s door.   
“Come on in, Stanton,” the voice sounded from within.  
“What’s up?” Axel plopped himself down in one of the chairs, making himself at home in the office he had frequented so often over the past four years.  
“Axel, your tutoring of Roxas Shinra…” the principal took off his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose. “He’s a straight A student except for Algebra and his failing grades might cause him troubles later on, if he applies to college. His older brother Cloud was one of our finest students, and received one of the most prestigious scholarships to Bastion University. Roxas is showing similar promise, but his algebra difficulties could hold him back.” The principal gave Axel a hard look, “I need you to be serious with Roxas.”  
“Oh,” Axel smirked. “I’m completely serious about Roxas.”   
“Fine. Keep your hormones in check.” The principal sighed. “You’re dismissed.”   
Axel sauntered out and the principal sighed. “Why do I feel like the one being punished is Roxas and not Axel,” he muttered. 

\---Linebreaksareboring---

After school the next day:

When Roxas walked out of his class, Sora was waiting for him. Roxas looked around, then looked to Sora, “Where is he?”  
Sora cocked his head, “Where is who?”  
“Riku. I thought you kept him on a short leash?” Roxas replied.   
“I DO NOT!” Sora pouted, “Where did you learn such diminuendo anyway, baby brother!” Sora reached to Roxas to put him in a head lock but the blonde quickly averted it.   
“Why are you here, Sora?” Roxas stated impatiently.   
“Oh yeah! I need to meet up with some student council guys to plan homecoming. So you’ll have to walk home by yourself.” Sora explained.   
“Homecoming planning. Sounds fun,” Roxas’s voice oozed with sarcasm. “I have tutoring today anyway. So I’ll just see you after.” Roxas made a disgusted face.   
“You know, if you keep doing that, your face will stick.”   
“Don’t be stupid, Sora.”  
“Nuh-uh! Riku told me!”  
Roxas scoffed. “Don’t you have a meeting?”  
Sora’s eyes went big. “Oh yeah! Gotta go! Bye Roxas!” Sora ran down the hall.   
“Student Council President running in the halls!” Roxas heckled to his back.  
“Whatever!” Sora’s yell came answering him.   
Roxas slowly pushed himself towards the courtyard where he had to meet his perverted tutor once again. He pushed himself up on the side of the planter, curling one leg against his chest. He pulled out his MP3 player and rested his head on his knee. After a few moments, he heard his name being yelled. He pulled out an earbud and looked up, to see a mulleted blonde boy running toward him, arms wide. Roxas pushed himself off the planter, and cocked an eyebrow at the boy, who seemed to not be slowing down.  
Demyx ran into him, glomping him, nearly causing him to fall into the planter, if his center of gravity was a few inches higher.   
“Hey…Demyx?” the blonde replied, slightly shocked and very uncomfortable.  
“Hey! You remembered my name! How are you?” Demyx enthusiastically asked.  
“Why?” Roxas shook his head in disbelief. ‘I only met this guy once, why is he acting like a friend?’ Roxas thought.  
“Do I need to have a reason to ask you how you are doing?” the older blonde cocked his head to the side. “Hey! You’re Sora and Cloud’s little brother, so how come you’ve only just now started living with them?”  
Roxas looked down and shoved his hands in his pockets. “That is…”  
A pale thin hand stuck into his line of sight. Roxas looked up to see another high schooler, only slightly taller than himself, with slate hair brushed forward to cover one eye.  
“Hello,” the boy greeted him. “I’m Zexion, this idiot’s boyfriend. I hope he hasn’t been bothering you too much. He can be a little…” Zexion glanced at Demyx who, not caring that Zexion had called him an idiot since he also called him his boyfriend, “…overbearing.” Zexion looked back at Roxas and smiled.  
Roxas returned the smile warmly, thankful to be given an out of an embarrassing question.   
“Roxas!” a voice that was engrained in Roxas’s head called to him. His smile disappeared as Axel approached the group.   
Axel beamed at the scowling blonde. “Ready for you lesson?” Axel raised his eyebrows suggestively on the word ‘lesson.’  
“Ready to keep your hands to yourself?” Roxas shot back.   
Before Axel could reply, Zexion cut in. “Axel,” he said almost warningly, “we’re leaving.”   
“BYE ROXAS!” Demyx’s enthusiasm never shut down.   
Demyx and Zexion started walking further away from the school. Once they were out of earshot, Zexion said quietly, mostly to himself, “He just moved here a couple of weeks ago, no need to put him in a minefield yet.”  
Demyx quirked an eyebrow at his boyfriend, giving him a what-are-you-talking-about look. “Oh, is this one of those intellectual cryptic things where you don’t clue me in, isn’t it?”  
“All the clues are already before you,” Zexion smiled lightly.   
Demyx wrapped his arm around Zexion’s elbow, “Yeah…hey! Wanna go to the music store…then maybe the Bean? I need to pick up my schedule.”  
“Alright.” 

xx--IlinebreakYoulinebreakWelinebreakdancedancedance—xx

Axel and Roxas sat down at one the small group tables in the school library.   
“So algebra, huh?” Axel started, remembering Zexion’s advice to get to know the kid.  
“Yeah,” Roxas sighed, looking down at his book. “I did fine in math until they starting throwing letters in there.”   
“Everyone’s entitled to a weakness,” Axel remarked, earning a skeptical look from Roxas. “Just try to do a few problems and let me know if you get stuck.” Axel got out his senior literature book. ‘Might as well try to make it less obvious that I intend to spend the next hour staring at him. Don’t scare him off like last time, Axel’ he thought to himself.  
After exactly seven minutes, Axel noticed, the blonde sighed. “I’m stuck,” said quietly, slightly pushing his book and notebook away from him. Axel pulled it to himself, turned it facing him, and looked it over, made a few light pencil marks, and turned it back to him. “Try to look for the patterns. Part of it is that, probably,” he craned is neck, “your variables are in the wrong order. Try putting the exponents in descending order, then see if any of the theorems work.”   
Roxas nodded then seriously began again. Smiling when he recognized the pattern, then continued. “Thanks,” he beamed at Axel.   
Axel chuckled lightly to himself. “You’re welcome.” He’s cute when he’s mad, but he’s adorable when happy.  
The rest of the hour passed quickly, with Roxas occasionally asking Axel questions, and beginning to trust him a little more. At the very least, Roxas no longer thought Axel an empty-headed idiot, although he was still leery of him.   
“We’re closing!” a library spoke loudly over the whispered din of the students still in the library. Lights started being turned off in the large room, leaving only a few lights near the exit illuminating the way out.  
Axel and Roxas looked up and smiled at one another, then closed their books and packed up.   
“Just how tall are you anyway?” Roxas asked as they exited the library.  
“Six-two,” Axel answered, then laughed. “Just how old are you anyway?”  
Roxas shot him a light scowl, but humor was in his eyes, “Fourteen,” he answered plaintively.   
“Hmm…you seem older,” Axel mused glancing at his short companion, “After being with spazzes like Demyx for so long, I associate calmness with maturity. You certainly seem older than Demyx when you talk, despite the fact that you look like a grade schooler.”   
Roxas punched him in the arm, jokingly. “Doesn’t that make you a pedophile?” He realized he had given Axel the perfect set up as soon as his intended-insult left his mouth.  
“In your case—“  
“Nevermind!” Roxas blushed a little interrupting Axel. He looked up to see his bus turning toward the bus stop. “That’s my bus! See you next time Axel!” He started a light run to the city bus stop on the edge of the school grounds.   
“Bye Roxie!”   
“Don’t!” Roxas turned slightly, then ran faster towards the bus stop. Axel could see the bright red tinge of a blush on Roxas’s ears.


	6. Chapter 6

Roxas could hear the phone ringing as he scrambled with his keys outside the apartment door. After having trouble with the lock, he quickly ripped the keys out of the door and scrambled to the phone. “Hello, Wainwright residence, Roxas speaking.”  
“Hey, Roxas, it’s Sally.”  
“Hi, mom.”   
“Don’t call me that, it makes me feel old,” the woman laughed lightly through the phone. “Anyway,” she resumed with a fake, upbeat voice, “do you know where my blue cocktail dress is?”  
“You had me drop it off at the cleaners on fifteenth, remember?”   
“On fifteenth? Why would you drop it off there? I always use the ones on Clarkesdale avenue.”   
“Because you said that they messed up your white coat.”  
“White coat? I don’t own a white coat.”   
Roxas heard some shuffling in the background. “Yeah, the off-white one, with the buttons.”   
“Oh, that’s not white, honey, that’s cream colored,” his mother then giggled and heard her whisper, “Stop, I’m on the phone.”  
“Sally?” Roxas really wanted to ask her to let him go back.  
“Roxas, it may be a little adjustment, but you’ll love living with your brothers,” more giggling could be heard. “And you’re in no one’s way there-ah!” His mother laughed, and Roxas heard a deep masculine grunt.  
“I—“ Roxas started.  
“I got to go, Roxie.” Before Roxas could say anything the disconnection clicked.   
“Bye Mom,” he spoke into the dead receiver.   
She’s happy now, why can’t I just be happy for her? Why do I have to be so selfish? She doesn’t need me anymore. Marty’s rich so she now has maids to cook for her and clean the apartment—No, she moving out. She’s moving into Marty’s house.  
Roxas’s feet brought him to his and Sora’s bed. He climbed onto his top bunk, and stared blankly at the ceiling. 

A few minutes later, Roxas heard Cloud and Sora come in. “Roxas, come eat dinner!” He heard Cloud’s voice. Roxas slowly dragged himself to the kitchen.  
Sora was putting out the plates, and Cloud was serving food on them. “Roxas, grab the drinks, will ya?” Cloud requested.   
Shortly, the three spike-haired brothers were seated at the table.  
Sora rattled on to Cloud about Homecoming preparations, and Cloud nodded, adding comments such as “We did that too,” when Sora mentioned the school traditions.   
Sora, noticing his younger brother was not responding to the conversation, looked at him, and his plate of uneaten food. His own plate and Cloud’s were almost empty.  
“What’s with you?” Sora asked, a little disgruntled that his brother didn’t seem to care at all about homecoming.   
“I’m not really hungry.” Roxas muttered, pushing food around with his fork.  
“What are you, a bohemian now?”  
The two blondes turned blank stares to the brunette, as Sora glared at his brother. “You know, like someone that doesn’t eat. Duh.”  
Roxas narrowed his eyes, “Do you mean anorexic?”  
“No, don’t they vomit after they eat?” Sora asked the question more to Cloud than to Roxas.   
“You’re so stupid,” Roxas got up, dumped his plate, and left the kitchen.   
Cloud sighed. “Sora, people with anorexia starve themselves, people with BULIMIA vomit after they eat, bohemians are transient people, like gypsies,” Cloud explained. “And you need to apologize to Roxas, this isn’t easy for him.”   
Cloud heard the door click down the hall.   
“Isn’t easy for him!?” Sora’s voice went up in pitch and volume. “We just now, after two years, go that room up and running and I was going to have my own room and my own privacy, and now I have to share it with Mr. Emo-Pants. And everyone’s like, ‘It’s an adjustment for him,’ ‘He’s having a rough time,” Well, it’s not that big of a deal! He just switched schools! He doesn’t have to mope around! No wonder mom got tired of him!”   
“Sora!” Cloud whispered harshly. He never raised his voice. When he was angry, he got quiet.   
Sora’s eyes got as big as saucers. Both young men looked towards the empty doorframe that lead to the hallway.   
“I’m going to Riku’s!” Sora said intensely. He still felt angry, but also sad that he had said something so cruel.   
Meanwhile, after leaving the table, Roxas passively walked to his and Sora room, and heard Sora go on one of his temper tantrums. After hearing “Mr. Emo-Pants,” however, Roxas put in his noise-reducing earphones and turned up the volume as the band Red screamed into his ears. He laid down on his bed and fell into a light sleep.

The next day at school, Roxas noticed Sora was avoiding him. I guess he’s still pissy, Roxas thought. Roxas grabbed his lunch roughly and went up to the school roof to eat in silence.   
The sun shone brightly, and the sky was a brilliant blue. Roxas breathed in the cool air, shivering lightly, but not wanting to go back down. He sat, with his back propped up on the one of the school brick chimneys, and rolled his head back, basking in the sun, hoping it would warm him. He snacked on potato chips from his lunch bag and let the music streaming into his head through his earphone occupy his thoughts. He felt the sun warm his closed eyelids, and wondered why one saw the color red in such circumstances. He always liked the color red, it was really—  
Roxas jumped as he felt someone sit beside him and take an earphone out of his ear.   
“Hey Blondie-Hottie-Chibi. What’s up?” A very annoying senior was sitting very close to Roxas. He reached in his black trenchcoat and pulled out a cigarette. “Don’t mind if I smoke, right?” The ridicously tall guy started to light the cigarette hanging from his smooth light pink lips.   
“Yeah, I do,” Roxas said as he ripped the cigarette from the upperclassman’s mouth.  
“Hey! Those are six bucks a box!” Axel scowled at the blonde.  
“Then don’t smoke them next to me, and don’t call me little blond—whatever.” Roxas scowled.   
Axel loved how cute Roxas was when he scowled. “So you know some Japanese?” he smirked at the little blonde.   
“Doesn’t everyone?” Roxas was very annoyed. He also didn’t like anyone picking up on his geek qualities. He had gotten beaten up once at his last school for being a “gay little otaku.”  
“No, not everyone, so what do you like to read? Or watch?” Axel grinned.   
Roxas tucked his chin down and stared intensely at his knees. Not wanted Axel to think he was a geek.   
“I watch deathnote,” Axel ventured, trying to pull the shy blonde out of his shell.  
“Naruto,” Roxas countered quietly.   
“That wasn’t too hard, was it, dobe?” Axel smiled.  
Roxas laughed quietly to himself. “Shut up, teme.”   
_________________________________________________


	7. Chapter 7

The next day at school, Roxas noticed Sora was avoiding him. I guess he’s still pissy, Roxas thought. Roxas grabbed his lunch roughly and went up to the school roof to eat in silence.   
The sun shone brightly, and the sky was a brilliant blue. Roxas breathed in the cool air, shivering lightly, but not wanting to go back down. He sat, with his back propped up on the one of the school brick chimneys, and rolled his head back, basking in the sun, hoping it would warm him. He snacked on potato chips from his lunch bag and let the music streaming into his head through his earphone occupy his thoughts. He felt the sun warm his closed eyelids, and wondered why one saw the color red in such circumstances. He always liked the color red, it was really—  
Roxas jumped as he felt someone sit beside him and take an earphone out of his ear.   
“Hey Blondie-Hottie-Chibi-chan. What’s up?” A very annoying senior was sitting very close to Roxas. He reached in his black trenchcoat and pulled out a cigarette. “Don’t mind if I smoke, right?” The ridiculously tall guy started to light the cigarette hanging from his smooth light pink lips.   
“Yeah, I do,” Roxas said as he ripped the cigarette from the upperclassman’s mouth, tossing it across the roof.   
“Hey! Those are six bucks a box!” Axel scowled at the blonde.  
“Then don’t smoke them next to me, and don’t call me little blond—whatever.” Roxas scowled.   
Axel loved how cute Roxas was when he scowled. “So you know some Japanese?” he smirked at the little blonde.   
“Doesn’t everyone?” Roxas was very annoyed. He also didn’t like anyone picking up on his geek qualities. He had gotten beaten up once at his last school for being a “gay little otaku.”  
“No, not everyone, so what do you like to read? Or watch?” Axel grinned.   
Roxas tucked his chin down and stared intensely at his knees. Not wanted Axel to think he was a geek.   
“I watch Deathnote,” Axel ventured, trying to pull the shy blonde out of his shell. “Just the anime, I haven’t gotten into the live action stuff yet.”  
“Naruto,” Roxas replied quietly.   
“That wasn’t too hard, was it, dobe?” Axel smiled.  
Roxas laughed quietly to himself. “Shut up, teme.”  
“So what were you listening to?” Axel picked up the earbud and placed it next to his ear.  
“umm…Red, do you know them?” Roxas looked at the redhead wondering if they had more in common.  
“Mmm…no,” Axel nodded to the beat.  
“They are kind-of,” Roxas thought for a moment, “one part hard-rock, one part alternative, one part punk with a dash of Christian in some of the lyrics.”  
“Intriguing,” Axel was ecstatic that he was getting to know his adorable underclassman better. “I’ll have to download some. But in the meantime, do you know Dir En Grey?”  
“No,” Roxas looked at his companion curiously as Axel pulled out his own MP3 player, unplugged Roxas’s headphones from his player, insert them into his own, and queued up ”Spilled Milk.”  
The two listened to the song, the vocal lead putting them into a type of shared trance. Roxas’s body relaxed, Axel moved his extended leg to the quick beat of the music.   
When the song ended, Axel gave Roxas back his ear bud, and the two smiled at one another.   
“Not bad,” Roxas smiled, pulling a tough act, but Axel could tell he really liked it. “What’s the name again?”  
The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Axel hopped up, and offered his hand to Roxas to pull him up. The blonde was oblivious and pushed himself up. Axel awkwardly pulled his hand back to scratch the back of his head, half-grinning. The wind was picking up and his black leather trench coat fanned in the wind. Roxas shuttered.   
“Cold, Roxie?”   
“My name is Roxas!” he snapped. “Not Roxie, not Chibi-chan, Roxas. Got it memorized!?” Roxas huffed, trying to keep a pale pink off his cheeks from such a stupid expression.   
“Yeah, I got it, doesn’t mean I won’t stop calling you that.” Axel laughed “ ‘Got it memorized’ I kinda like it.” Axel beamed. Roxas’s blush deepened a little “Idiot” he muttered, and headed off quickly to class.   
Axel trotted off after him. 

Axel sighed loudly in his last class of the day, music. He had it with Demyx, and it was some rare time when Demyx was unchecked by his boyfriend: Zexion had taken the period off, in order to take a poetics course at Bastion University. Demyx played around with his sitar, Axel played random staccato notes on the piano, eventually tinking out the Jeopardy thinking-pause music. Demyx strummed a major chord in response. “Why so glum, Axel?”  
“I don’t get to see Roxas today afterschool,” the other replied.   
“Yeah, but you had lunch with him,” Demyx countered. “But I know how you feel. I had lunch with Zexy but still miss him.” Demyx chuckled to himself. I do get to have dinner with him tonight though. Zack and I are going over.”  
“Man, no fair!” Axel pouted.  
“Don’t be such a girl!” Demyx shoved his friend, who caught himself on the edge of the piano bench. “But you really are missing out on Cloud’s cooking.”  
“So, Cloud is Zack’s boyfriend? And Cloud is Roxas’s big brother?” Axel reasoned out. Demyx nodded, then grabbed some twizzlers from his bag and began munching on them, offering one to Axel.   
“Yep. But he only just now started living with him and Sora, which is weird. I know that their parents divorced, and then their dad died a couple of years ago in a car crash, so it’s weird that it’s not until now that Roxas is living with them. Especially when money is tight for Cloud,” Demyx munched on his twizzler. His “thinking face” made him look like he was blankly staring off into space.  
Axel chuckled. “You know, Demyx, your voiced internal monologues are really smart. How come you don’t act more intelligent?”   
“It’s no fun at all,” Demyx sighed. He jumped up in his seat, some twizzlers flying.   
“What is it?” Axel picked up a few twizzlers from the ground, and muttering “3 second rule” popped one in his mouth.   
“Are you doing anything this weekend?” Demyx’s eyes were as big as saucers.   
“Uh…working the morning shift on Saturday and Sunday, and Sunday I have to meet up with Reno. Why?”   
“Let’s have me, you, Zexion, and Roxas hang out Saturday afternoon! It can be a double date!” Demyx was grinning like a cat and swaying back and forth upon himself.   
“There’s no way he would go for that,” Axel didn’t want to get his hopes up.  
“Cloud’ll make him do it. Zack said he’s been worried about Roxas not being social lately. Plus, I’ll just word it as ‘just hanging out.’ It’ll be fine, you’ll see!” Demyx grinned.   
“And they call Zexion the schemer,” Axel grinned at his friend. The two started improving an upbeat melody and counter-melody, their moods lightened. 

Sora and Riku were waiting for Roxas, as per usual, after his last class. “Hey Roxas,” the brunette greeted his little brother.  
“Hey,” Roxas sighed, feeling slightly despondent and not really knowing why. His mind kept on drifting to Algebra, and the hints Axel had taught him. He didn’t really like thinking about his weakest subject, so was confusing himself on why he continued to think about it for no reason.  
“Umm…Can you apologize to Cloud for me? I’m going over to Riku’s for the evening, so I won’t be eating dinner with you guys.” Sora looked slightly saddened, to be sincere, but Roxas knew he was only momentarily hiding his enthusiasm to spend time with his boyfriend.  
“Yeah, no problem.” Roxas adjusted the heavy backpack on his shoulders.   
Sora’s face brightened. “Thanks!” he skipped off with his boyfriend.   
Roxas walked slowly towards the exit of the school. While waiting for the bus, his cellphone rang loudly.   
“Hey Roxas,” his eldest brother’s voice greeted him.   
“You calling from a payphone? What’s the problem?” Roxas was slightly worried. Cloud didn’t have a cell phone, and disliked talking on the phone anyhow, so didn’t see the reason to pay good money for such an unwanted luxury.  
“Yeah, umm…I’m held up at university, one of the professors needs to meet with me. So, I can’t make dinner, but we’re having Zach and Demyx over again. Would you mind cooking? You can have Sora help you.” Cloud sounded put out that he had to put this onto his younger brother’s shoulders.   
“Yeah, no problem,” Roxas replied and got onto the noisy bus. “Real quick, what time are we expecting them?”   
“Six-ish.”   
“Yeah, okay. You’ll be home by then, I’m guessing?”   
“I’ll hopefully be home by five-thirty.”   
“I gotta go, I’m on the bus. See you at home, and don’t worry about anything. I’m used to cooking for mom.”  
“Thanks.”  
“Bye.”  
“Bye.”  
Roxas spent the rest of the bus ride thinking of what to cook, but then figured he would have to wing it with whatever was in the fridge. 

Roxas smiled at the empty kitchen. Feeling for the first time in over two weeks to be back in his own element. He grabbed Cloud’s laptop and computer speakers and put on a Dir-En-Grey playlist from youtube to play in the background. Smiling, he opened the fridge and perused the cabinets for spices and staples.   
At five-forty-five Roxas heard two voices come in the house.   
“hello?” he called from the kitchen.  
“Roxas?” Zack and Demyx entered the kitchen. “Whoa, this smells amazing!” Zach looked around the kitchen, glancing over various dishes.   
Demyx ran up and glomped the young blonde from behind. “You are TOO CUTE!” Demyx squealed. Roxas’s apron was covered with flour and he had some green specks on one of his cheeks and what looked like chocolate on the other.   
“Umm…Cloud was already supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago, so I’m running a little late. Zach, would you mind setting the table? Demyx, get off, I’m busy.”   
Zach nodded and started getting plates out of the cabinets.   
“Yes, Mr. Chef!” Demyx smiled. Roxas turned back to the food on the counter, making the platters presentable.   
“Hey Roxas, turn around a sec.” Demyx said.  
“Wha—“ Roxas turned, and Demyx took a picture quickly with his phone. “No!” He started chasing the older blonde, who held his phone above his head. Roxas jumped trying to grab it, Zack was laughing while leaning against the empty doorframe of the kitchen.   
Suddenly, Zack was accosted from behind. Cloud kissed him lightly on the ear. They hugged and looked on at the two blondes.   
“You two are getting along well,” Cloud said.  
“You’re late!” Roxas gave Cloud a fake scowl, still giggling. Cloud walked up and ruffled his hair. “Sorry, and thanks for making dinner. Where’s Sora?”   
“With Riku.”  
“Oh. Then I’m really sorry you had to make dinner all by yourself.”  
“No worries. It was fun. Reminds me of all the old times making dinner for mom.”   
Cloud smiled at him warmly, but Zack could see the slight traces of sadness in his eyes.   
Music suddenly erupted from the speakers. Everyone jumped. “Oops, forgot to turn it off.” Roxas walked over to the speakers and computer, then closed the browser and turned off the speakers. They all sat down to eat Roxas’s dinner: meatloaf with spiced boiled potatoes, carrots and green beans, and chocolate cake with chocolate-orange icing for dessert.   
“This is amazing! Good cooking has to be in your DNA,” Demyx said.   
“Well, mom can’t cook, so I just cooked for her,” Roxas said, trying to deny the claims that cooking skills were genetic in his case.  
“And I learned while making food for Sora. He was a picky eater when he was younger, but he’s gotten better since he went to high school.” Cloud added.  
“Such a good older brother,” Zach said quietly, looking adoringly at his boyfriend.   
“No being lovey-dovey at the dinner table!” Roxas gagged.   
“Squirt,” Cloud ruffled his brother’s hair. 

After dinner, Demyx sat contently in the passenger seat. Zack started driving them back home.   
“You’re quiet,” Zach mentioned, turning the radio on.  
“I need to text Axel,” the blonde yawned. 

Axel whipped out his phone.   
Received new picture mail.   
From: Mullet-head  
Download: Yes No  
Axel pressed yes and the phone slowly downloaded the picture. He laughed loudly at the picture of Roxas, in a lavendar apron, with food on the front and on his sleeves. He had what looked like chocolate sauce smudged on one of his cheek. His mouth was agape, apparently from being mid-word with the photo was snatched.   
Cute, huh? All go for sat pm. Me and Zex pick him up b4 u out of wrk. O! Talk to Rox bout music-he had dir en grey on when we got ther. C u 2morrow. ^-^ dem-dem  
“Yes!” Axel pumped a fist in the air, getting weird looks at from the customers in the store where he worked.


	8. Chapter 8

Friday passed without much commotion. Despite it being a day that Roxas had algebra, he and Axel had decided to skip meeting of Fridays for academic purposes. Who wanted to do homework on a Friday afternoon? (Well, maybe Zexion, but he wasn’t in this conversation.) Friday afternoon, Roxas went to the dentist for his yearly. Cloud had gently suggested he should get his yearly appointments taken care of soon, since Cloud and Sora were without health insurance for the time being, and Roxas was still on his mother’s since he had done all the accounting for her while he was living with her. Since such paperwork was now under Marty’s control, Cloud didn’t know how much longer Roxas would have access to the insurance. Thus Roxas had a dental appointment this Friday and an eye appointment next Friday.   
Roxas survived the dental appointment, but had trouble sleeping Friday night. His mind spun with thoughts in anticipation for hanging out the next day with Demyx, Zexion, and Axel. He thinks I’m cute? But is that attractive? Why do I care? He’s only meeting with me to get out of detention. But he did have lunch with me the other day.   
Roxas glanced over at his alarm clock. 3:30AM. He likes good music. And he’s really smart, even though he does stupid things, like melt a hole in the chem lab floor. And his fascination with heat and fire. His hair is like fire. And those eyes. Why am I thinking like this? Do I think he is attractive? Well, duh. He is really hot. But he groped me the first time I saw him. Does he do that with everyone he meets? Is he dating someone? Has he had tons of girlfriends? Why do I care? Why can’t I stop thinking about this?   
5:30 AM. Gods, why can’t I sleep. I’m going to look like shit tomorrow and be in a daze. He’ll think I’m stupid, he already knows I stupid at math. What am I going to wear tomorrow anyway? I did laundry earlier—no, yesterday evening--so I should have everything clean. I could wear my old faithful outfit. I look cool in that. I love those pants.  
6:15 AM At least I won’t look like a grade schooler who dressed himself like I did the first time I met him. God damn Sora shirking off his responsibilities. God he snores loudly. How come I never noticed before?   
7 AM Might as well get up and make breakfast. Roxas made crepes and galettes (savory, buckwheat crepes with ham and cheese and such inside instead of sweet things.) Cloud got up, made coffee, and ate breakfast with him. The two brothers ate slowly, enjoying a quiet morning together.   
Zexion pulled up to Roxas’s apartment complex at 11:30. He saw Roxas wave from a window on the third floor, and shortly later the young boy was climbing into the 2-seater car. Rachmaninov was playing lightly in the background. Zexion explained,“You and Axel are at opposite locations from Demyx’s, so I’m picking you up one at a time. Seat belt.”   
Zexion paused to hear the click coming from Roxas’s side of the car, then backed out of the parking lot. “Axel gets out at twelve-thirty, but he called and said he may have to stay a little later. So we’re going to hang out at Demyx’ first.”   
The two got out the car in front of a small house, located on the edge of the city.   
“Zexion! I missed you!” Demyx glomped his boyfriend and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Zexion returned the squeeze, and smiled at his boyfriend. “I was gone for only forty-some-odd minutes.”   
“But still!” Demyx lightly whined, hugging his boyfriend again. Demyx pulled away from Zexion, giving his boyfriend his brightest smile, and then jumped, sliding on the hood of the car over towards a yawning Roxas. “Roxas hasn’t had his dem-dem love today!” He yelled, and startled the small boy by wrapping him in a tight hug, causing him to stumble backwards. Roxas squeaked lightly, causing the older blonde only to squeeze him tighter.   
“Zexy, can we keep him?” the mullet wearer broke up the hug, Roxas gasped for breath. “He even squeaks!” He started pulling a dazed and slightly confused Roxas towards the front door.   
“Kidnapping is illegal, Demyx,” the intellectual opened the door for the blondes.   
“Come to the darkside, Roxas,” Demyx giggled, pulling him into the darkened living room, “we have cookies!”   
“And popcorn,” Zexion added. “We figured we would watch a movie while waiting for Axel to get out.”   
“Alright,” Roxas nodded.   
“Do you want something to drink, Roxas? Water, milk, soda, juice?”  
“Apple juice?”   
“Sure thing.” Demyx half-skipped, half-galloped out of the room.   
Roxas looked at the room, taking in his surroundings. Zexion sat on the couch facing the television, then motioned for Roxas to sit beside him. Zexion didn’t want Demyx to sit beside him on this occasion. Partially because he didn’t want Roxas to feel like a third wheel, but also because he didn’t like PDA, and knew Demyx would try to kiss him at least once throughout the film, and huggle him, and etc. Zexion shook his head the tiniest bit, blushing lightly, trying to stop such thoughts in the presence of an innocent third party.  
Complying with Zexion’s gesture, the blonde sat in the middle of the couch, tucking his feet up under him, his knees pulled close to his chest.   
There was a large wooden table infront of the couch, and on it were three large bowls: one filled with cookies, one filled with mini candy bars, and one filled with popcorn that had M&Ms and pretzels thrown into it.   
“Exactly how much sugar has he had today?” Roxas asked.  
“It was like that when I came. At least he wasn’t binging on coffee. At least when he eats sugar, he’ll crash later. Caffeine keeps him hyper for hours.” Zexion explained, putting one leg up on the table. Roxas observed that he never saw Zexion with such a relaxed posture before.   
Demyx came back with a glass of water and a glass of apple juice. Looked at the two on the couch, pouted for half a second, then put the glasses down. “So what are we watching. I was thinking Dogma, Saw II, or Die Hard III. That’s what netflix has sent to us this month, at least.”   
Zexion shrugged. Roxas added, blushing lightly, “not Saw II.”  
“Die Hard it is!” Demyx leaped to the DVD player, put in the DVD, then joined the two boys on the couch, shooting his boyfriend a pouting glance when he walked by him, to sit on the other side of Roxas. He knew his boyfriend didn’t like PDA, but it was just Roxas.   
“Have you seen this before?” Demyx whispered to Roxas.  
“Yeah, but not in a while. It’s really funny.” Roxas whispered back. Demyx smiled warmly.   
The three watched the film in silence. Zexion occasional checked his phone to see what time it was and if Axel had called him. About twenty minutes into the movie, Axel texted, asking Zexion to pick him up at 12:45 instead. Zexion texted back an affirmative.   
Thus around 12:30, Zexion excused himself to go pick up the red head. He was given salutatory waves while both blonds yawned in sync. He smiled at the cuteness.   
A few minutes after Zexion left, Demyx yawned largely again, this time stretching his entire body. He got a mischievous smile and swung his legs over the smaller blonde, and put his head against the armrest.   
Roxas oomphed, then asked with a light scowl, “Hey, how come you’re the one who gets to lie down?”  
“Because I thought of it first!” Demyx smiled, scooting a little further down on the couch to be comfortable.   
As the movie progressed, Demyx quickly fell asleep, Roxas nodding off while sitting up, albeit slouched against the overstuffed grandma couch. After a little while, sleep having taken away his awareness of where he was, Roxas fell onto his side, sleeping wedged between Demyx and the back of the couch.   
After an explosion caused both blondes to stir, Roxas rolled onto his stomach, halfway on the taller blonde, who, in his sleep thinking the other body was Zexion, pulled the other further on top of his chest, and adjusted his hips towards the back of the couch, moving one leg behind Roxas. The two slept calmly, sharing body heat in the cool living room. The sounds of explosions hardly affected their slumber.


	9. Chapter 9

Zexion sipped his blue mountain coffee, sitting in an overstuffed chair at The Bean Café. He was re-reading Dostoevsky’s The Idiot. Axel, meanwhile, was working hard serving the line of customers. He scowled at the clock, angry that he now worked 45 minutes longer than he was supposed to. That could have been 45 more minutes with his cute little underclassman.   
“Axel!” Yuffie called, “You can go now. Larxene is five minutes away. Thanks for working overtime.”   
Axel nodded, giving her a (fake) exhausted smile, clocked out, then jumped over the counter to Zexion, who stood and marked his page.   
“Let’s go before she changes her mind,” he muttered under his breath.  
“No problem,” Zexion replied.   
In the car, Zexion turned off the A/C and rolled down the windows. He looked over at Axel, whose knee bounced irritably.   
“You’re quitting for Roxas? Did he ask you to?” Zexion kept an eye on the road.   
“He didn’t ask, but he doesn’t like it. I’ve had a headache for two days straight now. Distraction is the only thing that helps. Especially any thing that distracts my hands and my mouth: chewing gum isn’t bad, but my hands get restless, I bet giving a bl—“  
“Axel, I’m not Demyx.”  
“Got it,” Axel shifted in his seat. “Sorry bout that,” he scratched his head, “what are you listening to, anyway?”  
“Vladimir Vysotsky. He was a folklorist…bard…singer. I turned Demyx onto him because he plays a Russian seven-stringed guitar.”  
“And Dostoevsky again, I see. On a Russian kick?”   
“You could say that.” Zexion eased up into the driveway in front of Demyx’s house.   
Zexion turned on the lights. The DVD menu was on repeat, and Zexion couldn’t see where the two blonds lay until he walked in the room.   
Axel’s jaw dropped. Zexion sighed.   
Getting out his camera-phone, the slate haired senior murmured softly, “They really are too cute that I won’t be able to stay mad at them for long. But Demyx doesn’t have to know that.” He took a photo with his phone.  
“I’m getting a god damn cigarette,” Axel excused himself, mentally ranting about Demyx’s touchie-feelie habits and getting friendly and close with HIS little blonde. Demyx KNEW Axel was chasing after him, and since when did ROXAS of ALL PEOPLE let his guard down around someone he didn’t know well.   
“Demyx,” Zexion said firmly, resisting the smile on his lips. He was a bit jealous, but he would have Demyx foot the bill for all of their activities for the rest of the day, especially anything they did separate from Axel and Roxas.   
“Demyx, wake up.” Zexion said, raising his voice an infinitesimal bit.   
“Mmf,” Demyx moaned and hugged the body resting on him tighter, “Zexy…did you shrink?”  
“Demyx, wake up now,” Zexion said, slight aggravation and jealousy in his voice.   
Demyx patted Roxas. “You’re here, but your voice is there,” he pointed behind his head to where Zexion stood. Demyx slowly opened his eyes. “Whoa!” he exclaimed loudly, jerking and waking up the sleeping blonde ontop of him.  
“What?” Roxas looked up, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.   
“Jesus Christ!” Demyx all but sat up, causing Roxas to roll onto the outside of the cushion of the couch.   
Roxas slowly continued to roll off of Demyx and onto the floor. Zexion walked over to him. The youngest was rubbing his face with his hands, trying to wake up. “Did you bring Axel?” he half yawned, half spoke.   
“He’s outside smoking a cigarette,” Zexion explained calmly. Demyx sat up fully, looking around as if he was confused on where he was.   
“Oompf!” Roxas kicked his legs out and sprung up in one quick movement. “I’m going to say hi!” he ran out of the living room to the front door.   
“Can I say how bizarre and down right freaky it is to have those huge eyes looking at you as soon as you wake up?” Demyx put his elbows on his knees, burying his head in his hands, rubbing his temples. Zexion sat down beside him.   
“Demyx.”   
Demyx stopped rubbing and a look of sadness washed over his face.  
“Roxas was sleeping ontop of you.” Zexion saw guilt emanate from his boyfriend’s face.   
“I’m soo sorry. I thought he was you. I had my feet ontop of him during the movie, then I fell asleep, and he must have fallen asleep too, and somehow he was next to me and I thought was you and I’m soo sorry Zexion, I know you put up with me having more skinship with my friends than you do and I know—“  
“Shh” Zexion said.  
“I’m so sorr—“  
“Shh,” Zexion said again calmly. “Just make it up to me later.”  
Demyx wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. A single tear fell from his eyes. “I love you, and no one else will ever come close.”  
“I know.” 

“I really don’t like your smoking. It makes you smell like an ashtray.” Roxas put his hands on his hips in an I’m-angry-at-you pose.   
Axel glanced angrily over at the small blond. Zexion was right. He’s too cute to stay angry at. He took another drag of his cigarette. Still I’m jealous as fuck right now. That Demyx bastard.   
“Come on, Axel,” Roxas now slightly pouted, but his face was more worried.  
“I just worked overtime, give me a friggin’ break, Roxas,” he took another drag of the cigarette, “When did you get so close to Demyx anyway?” He seethed the word “close” out of his mouth.   
“Erm...that wasn’t…I mean it was…I mean we didn’t do anything…I mean I didn’t sleep any last night because I was thinking about…and I got really tired in the movie…and I just woke up laying on top of him…I’m not really sure how it happened…he was just warm and I…but he and I don’t have any thing like you and,” Roxas was slowly getting redder and redder and speaking quicker and quicker as he bumbled through his explanation. “I’m going to take a breath now,” he said quietly.   
That did it. Axel broke a grin, and Roxas lit up. Axel smirked as his younger companion beamed at him, “So what were you up all last night thinking about?”   
“Oh, that,” Roxas averted his eyes and his cheeks became pink again, “nothing, really. Sora just snores really loudly.”   
“You’ve been living with him for, what, a month now, and only just now his snoring has gotten to you?” Axel raised and eyebrow, but before the blonde could make excuses, he began again, “And what exactly is it that ‘you and I have’ that ‘you and Demyx’ don’t?”   
Axel actually heard the small boy gulp in fear. Dread was painted over his face. He looked up at Axel, searching for something.   
Axel felt a little guilty about making the younger so uncomfortable. He stamped out his cigarette. “Why is he over at your house so often, anyhow? And he got one of your home-cooked meals.”  
“Oh, my home-cooked meals are nothing special, and his cousin, I guess they are close cousins, is dating my older brother Cloud,” Roxas explained softly, keeping his gaze down.   
Axel ruffled Roxas’s hair, “I’m curious what your cooking tastes like” (a/n njb snickers)   
“I’ll cook for you sometime. There’s an algebra exam next Friday. Maybe we could make the Thursday session an evening one, and I could make us dinner then?”   
“That would be great, Roxas.” Axel’s smile brightened as he noticed a pale pink blush on Roxas’s face. He reached to open the door.  
“Um…” Roxas said very quietly.   
Axel’s face relaxed a bit, giving the small blonde a serious concerned face. “What is it, Roxas?”   
“I just…I had been wondering…where you worked, that’s all.” Roxas glanced up at his tutor. Hoping he wasn’t crossing a line of upperclassman/freshman status relations. Afterall, he was hanging out with these seniors on a Saturday, and that made them friends, right?  
Axel smiled. “The bean café on 11th and Walnut,” he ruffled the hair of his young friend. He leaned in and whispered, “Got it memorized?” He glanced at Roxas’s bright red face, before opening the door and walking in.   
Demyx and Zexion were standing very close, hands on each others’ hips, their foreheads touching.   
“Ready to go?” Axel queried.   
“Yep!” Demyx beamed as he turned around.   
“Almost,” Zexion replied, then quickly put his hand over Demyx’s eyes and face. Demyx gasped as he felt Zexion’s teeth bite into the crook of his neck, sucking intensely. Demyx hissed and grabbed tightly onto Zexion’s arm.   
As quickly as it started, it was finished. Zexion walked past his dazed boyfriend, grabbing keys from the table next to Axel. “I had to administer some punishment first,” he shrugged.  
“Apparently,” Axel replied and followed him out to let Demyx collect himself.   
“You’re paying for everything today, Demyx,” Zexion closed the front door behind him and Axel.   
The two seniors breezed by Roxas, whose complexion had just returned to normal.   
“Your shoelace is untied,” Zexion observed, without looking down. Roxas was mystified at his senior’s sensory abilites, but bent down to tie his shoe. A moment later, he stood up as Demyx walked out the front door, a blank expression on his face. He locked the door quietly behind him. Roxas noticed a pale bruise forming at the base of his neck. “When did you get…” he started then immediately stopped. His mouth formed a tiny “oh.” Demyx turned to him, still blank faced.   
“Huh?”  
“Nevermind,” Roxas replied.   
“Roxas, you’re riding shot-gun.” Zexion shouted from inside the car.  
“How come the shortest is riding shot-gun?” Axel fake whined from inside the car.   
“Because he is much less annoying than you two. And he needs to get acquainted with the city,” Zexion logically replied.  
Demyx sat behind Zexion. Axel was already seated behind Roxas’s seat.   
“Why do I have to pay for everything today? Zexion, you get paid more than I do and Axel wouldn’t mind paying for Roxas’s share.” Demyx reasoned.   
“Because you…stole Roxas’s innocence.” Zexion had no good was to express it.   
Zexion eased down the suburban street.   
“I/He did not!” the two said in unison, earning them a glare from Zexion. Roxas blushed deeply.   
“I end up sleeping with and on my brothers all the time. Sora’s notorious for smooshing me. He always ends up on top, even though he’s larger,” Roxas huffed. Axel developed a newfound interest in the door handle of the car, staring at it intently. Focusing on it.   
Zexion glanced at Demyx in the rear-view window. He saw his boyfriend shudder in the back seat.   
“Yes?” Zexion prompted his currently-in-the-doghouse significant other.   
“I can’t imagine waking up to 2 sets of those intense eyes. Ugh.” Demyx said with disgust.   
Zexion had a smallest bit of smile, but then noticed his kouhai’s (Japanese: “junior/underclassman”) face darken with a tinge of sadness.   
Axel watched Roxas lower his face a little. He then put his arms around the blonde and the seat in front of him. He leaned forward and whispered in the blonde’s ear, “You’re eyes are the most beautiful I’ve seen,” he kissed him on the cheek.   
“Axel, why aren’t you wearing your seatbelt?” Zexion asked.   
“Where are we going anyway?” Demyx stretched in the backseat.


	10. Chapter 10

Axel and Demyx were asleep in back seat by the time the car slowed into a parking field outside the city.   
“Guys, we’re here,” Zexion turned off the car.   
“Strawberry festival?” Roxas gave Zexion a confused look.   
“They have rides and things,” Zexion explained, “It’s like a carnival.”   
“Strawberry festival! Zexy you DO love me!” Demyx bounced in excitement in the back seat and embraced his over on the other side of his bucket seat. Zexion choked slightly.   
“Yes, I do,” Zexion said quietly.   
Axel yawned loudly. “So we’re finally there?” He stretched as he got out of the car. “Zexion, you drive like a grandma.”  
“I am aware of your abhorrence of speed limits and common driving legislation, Axel,” Zexion looked over at the redhead, “But your daredevil crazy—“  
“Ugh! Drooled on by two people in one day! Thanks, Axel,” Demyx came over and glomped his boyfriend. “Thanks for the surprise, sweetie,” he kissed Zexion on the nose. The slate haired senior blushed lightly. “Roxas! Do you like strawberries?” Demyx turned his glance to the smallest boy.   
Roxas’s eyes twinkled. “I like them.” He said smiling.  
“Then let’s go!” He grabbed Roxas and Zexions hands and ran towards the entrance. Roxas quickly grabbed Axel’s arm before he was pulled away by the overzealous mulleted musician.

“I can’t believe you made me pay for all four of us!” Demyx whined to his boyfriend, handing out admittance bracelets.  
“Stop whining. You only paid one and a half fare.” Zexion responded. “I gave you those buy-one-get-one free passes.”  
“How come my bracelet is red and you guys’s are blue?” Roxas asked as Axel fixed the bracelet around his wrist.  
“Because I paid child fare for you!” Demyx beamed an “aren’t I smart” smile at Roxas who scowled.   
“Cheapskate,” Roxas scowled lightly, but his mood improved greatly once Axel gave him a strawberries and cream cake.   
“Let’s get our faces painted and get a picture taken like last year!” Demyx hopped towards the face painting booth. “Roxas, you first.”   
Half an hour later, the four boys left the face painting booth laughing. Roxas had two strawberries in the shape of a heart painted on his cheek. Axel got flames painted up his cheekbones. Demyx got some bubbles on the left side of his face, and Zexion got a book with a strawberry emblem on the cover on the right side of his face. The face painter took several photos for them, using Demyx’s and Axel’s phones and Zexion’s point-and-shoot.  
The group of four walked towards the games.   
“I wonder,” Zexion began, and smiled lightly towards Axel, “Who is better at the rope ladders, Demyx or Roxas?”   
“I’m super agile, there’s no way Roxas could beat me!” Demyx laughed.  
“But you’re bigger than me, and everyone knows that the less you weigh on those things, the easier it is to get to the top.” Roxas looked at Demyx with a competitive glimmer in his eye.  
“You’re on short stuff!”   
In a few moments, the two blondes were on the rope ladders, tediously crawling up the precarious structures. They started on hands and knees, but shortly they pushed off with their legs, figuring out that it was better to have most of one’s weight closed to the ground. Bent at the waist, the two blondes glared at each other as they were on all fours, scrambling on the ropes.  
Axel and Zexion watched from behind them. Axel smirked as he watched his blonde almost topple a few times. The took out his phone and captured a few pictures.   
“Zexion, you have some scathingly brilliant ideas,” Axel said, “Thank you.”   
Zexion chucked. “It’s as much for my benefit as it is yours,” he took a picture with his digital camera.   
The two heard an “ompf!” and looked over to see Demyx crawling on the hay. Roxas was three rungs from the top. Demyx walked over to his boyfriend.  
“I lost,” Demyx pouted.  
“You’re always a winner to me,” Zexion picked a piece of hay out of his hair.   
They heard a bell ring, and Roxas dropped gracefully from the rope ladder.   
“See, I’m nimble,” Roxas sauntered full of himself as he gloated to Demyx.  
“That you are,” Axel smirked.  
“Let’s go do the house of mirrors next!” Demyx pointed excitedly at the building.  
“You guys go ahead. Those aren’t designed for tall people, at all.” Axel shrugged.  
“Axel and I will find something else to do,” Roxas volunteered.   
“See you in a little while, then,” Zexion was pulled by Demyx to the entry way.  
Axel and Roxas started wandering. “Wanna try the ferris wheel?” Axel asked.  
“ROXIE!” Two grade-school girls clamped onto both of Roxas’s legs.  
“Kairi? Namine? What are you two doing here?” Roxas hugged them.   
“Girls!” a shrill voice started Axel and Roxas. Roxas flinched.   
A woman wearing a very tight black dress walked over to the group. She wore a large rimmed black straw hat and her hair was tied in a tight bun.   
“Roxie, not today. Come on girls, Marty is looking for us.” Her blue eyes glanced over at Axel, then she passively walked away from the two boys, her daughters in tow.   
“Bye Sally,” Roxas said, his voice rang with sadness.   
The woman looked over her shoulder passively.   
“Roxas?” Axel put his hand on his young friend’s shoulder. Roxas jumped, as if he was shaken from a line of deep thought.   
“Yeah?” he looked up at Axel, his voice was distant. His eyes were devoid, empty.   
“Let’s get on the ferris wheel.” Axel pulled him the few steps further and they entered a car. Roxas’s eyes never left his feet. The two guys stepped into a car, and soon they were on their way up into the air.   
“Who was that woman?” Axel wondered aloud. Roxas’s eyes were staring at his knees.   
Axel leaned forward, gently pulling Roxas’s chin up so that his gaze met his own. “Roxas, what’s wrong?”   
The moment Roxas made eye contact with Axel he couldn’t control it any more. Tears filled his eyes. His nose turned red. His emotion dam broke and he was bawling, and his crush was watching him.   
“I’m sorry,” Roxas looked out of the car. “I look horrible when I cry,” he hiccupped for air.  
“Jesus, Roxas, don’t worry about that. “If you tell me about it, I may be able to help you.” Axel looked at his young friend full of concern.   
“I just…I just…” Roxas cried harder. “I can’t talk about it right now.” The small boy shuddered. “Just distract me, please. I’ll tell you about it later.” He still couldn’t keep eye contact with his upperclassman crush. He felt unwanted, and ugly, and weak.   
Axel sat next to holder of his heart, and took off his black trenchcoat, putting it around the small boy’s shoulders. He took his mp3 player out of its pocket, put on a playlist, and put the earphones into the blonde’s ears. He wrapped an arm around Roxas, pulling him close. Roxas’s head naturally fell onto Axel’s shoulder, and Axel felt cool tear trip onto his leg. He pulled Roxas tighter, as they circled up into the air. 

End of chapter 10

 

Chapter 10 Omake  
Scene: The four boys walking through the carnival grounds. Demyx and Roxas stuffing their faces with strawberries and whipped cream crepes.   
Dem: Aren’t these the best, Roxas?  
Rox: They are really good! Really sweet.  
Axel: You’re really sweet. :::leans into Roxas::: ‘Got it memorized?’ ::: teasingly licks whipped cream off of Rox’s nose.   
Rox turns redder than a strawberry.  
Dem: Strawberries are my favorite!  
Axel: I would think that bananas were your favorite.  
Dem: Well, to be truthful, Zex--  
Zexion: Demyx, Axel, not in front of the kids!  
Dem, Zex, and Ax look at the readers then look at Roxas. Roxas noms crepe blissfully.


	11. Chapter 11

“Roxas, why were you so down when you got back Saturday? Did Axel dump you?” Sora looked at his younger brother, who was yawning as they walked to school Monday morning.   
“We’re not dating. He’s probably straight anyway—“ Roxas started to explain.  
“Is NOT,” Sora said playfully, “he dated a senior guy his freshman year. Riku told me,” Sora beamed.   
“Riku must get a lot more talkative when you two are alone. He gives you all this information,” Roxas muttered.  
“Rah-xasss. You didn’t answer my question.” Sora whined.  
Roxas stopped walking and looked at his brother. Sora not only noticed that Roxas was in an unusually sour mood on Satuday, he hadn’t forgotten, and he managed to stay focused on this matter for more than three minutes. Roxas smiled warmly at his twin, maybe he does care.   
“You’re still not answer—“ Sora whined in a singsongy voice.  
“I saw Nami and Kairi,” Roxas shook his head. “For a moment.” Roxas looked down. He began again, “And Sal—mom—she was…busy.”  
“She ignored you, didn’t she?” Sora bent down into his little brother’s line of sight.  
Roxas stood up straight and raised his eyes. “Yeah, but no big deal. I don’t care.”   
Sora chuckled and they started walking again towards the school. “I almost believed you. But you should focus your attention on better things, like algebra, and your algebra tutor,” he winked at his younger brother.   
“Shut up!” Roxas playfully pushed his brother. They were both laughing when they walked up to Riku in the school yard. Sora ran the last few steps and hugged his boyfriend with all his might.  
“Who’s that?” Riku pointed at Roxas.   
Two pairs of blue eyes looked at him confused.  
“Silly, that’s Roxas!” Demyx walked up and hugged the blonde who eeped from the unexpected squeeze.  
“Psht. Roxas doesn’t laugh.” Riku smiled down at Sora.  
Sora started swaying his hips forwards and backwards like a five year old. “He does when he’s happy!” He swayed forward, “And he’s happy since,” he swayed back, “I told him that Ax—ow!”   
Roxas had stomped on Sora’s toe as a certain redheaded senior approached the group.   
“The glaring Roxas returns!” Demyx cheered.  
“Where’d he go to begin with?” Axel asked, coming in mid-conversation.   
Roxas blushed as the senior looked at him. The bell rang, signaling the beginning of first period. The group dispersed, but Roxas thought he heard Zexion whisper to him in passing, “Saved by the bell.” 

Monday and Tuesday flew by. Before he knew it, Roxas was in the kitchen, listening to Gackt, making dinner for himself and Axel. His homemade lasagna was in the oven, the corn was simmering on the stove, and he was grilling the asparagus when his phone vibrated in his pocket.   
I’ve been knocking for five minutes, Roxie.  
“Shit!” Roxas ran to the door, opening it, saying quickly “Hi Axel,” then running back to the kitchen.  
Axel laughed at the sight of his cute junior, a grey bandana on his head and lavender apron over his front. “Wow, it smells great.”   
“Erm, sorry it’s not ready yet. You’re a bit early,” Roxas surveyed the food on the counters. Then he started turning the asparagus, and turned off that burner on the stove. He shuffled over to a cookie sheet that had half a loaf of garlic bread on it and put it in the stove.   
Axel marveled at the kid. “What all are we having?” Axel asked in awe.   
“Salad!” Roxas went to the fridge and took out several containers, then grabbed a large bowl from the pantry. “Could you take these and mix them in this?” He handed the items to Axel.   
“Yeah, I can manage that,” Axel walked over to the bar, started disassembling the containers and emptying their contents into the salad bowl.   
“We’re having salad, homemade lasagna, sweet corn, grilled asparagus, and garlic bread. And flan with peaches for dessert. If you don’t like flan, there’s still some strawberries and cream leftover from the strawberry carnival.” Roxas listed off. His eyes scanned the kitchen, “What do you want to drink?”   
“Whatever you’re having.”  
“Do you like peach iced tea?”  
“Sounds great.”  
Roxas made two glasses then shuffled over to the already set table. Axel placed the salad bowl in the center. Roxas looked up at him. “Hi,” he smiled.  
Axel was amazed at what this little fifteen year old could do. “Hey.” He smiled down, noticing a red smudge on one cheek and a brown smudge on the other. “Hold still a moment,” Axel took his index finger and removed the red smudge, then put it in his mouth. “Tomato sauce,” he remarked. Roxas, meanwhile, was turning red, from proximity to his crush and from the attention. He scowled, and turned, “I’m not a kitten!” He said, trying his best to sound angry, but he felt the blush creep into his ears.  
“You could be my kit—“ Axel began and the oven timer sounded loudly.   
“Don’t want that to burn up,” Roxas made a narrow escape to the oven. He’s just joking around, calm down, Roxas.   
I almost did it. I don’t want to him to think I’m not serious. I’m damned serious. But he’s hard to resist in that get up: he’s slightly sweating from standing over the stove, his cheeks are rosy. God, does he have no idea how beautiful he is?  
“Plates, table,” Roxas ordered, keeping his head down as he maneuvered the lasagna. “Please, Axel.” He added, and Axel could see a soft smile that was on his face, despite it being lowered.  
Axel picked two platters: the asparagus looked like it had been prepared in a five star restaurant and the corn looked like it was seasoned and had small peppers cut into flowers and parsley for garnish. The two teens sat down at the table.   
“Nice apron,” Axel smiled.   
Roxas’s eyes buldged. He quickly took off this bandana and the apron in one swift movement and threw them to the other side of the room. Axel began laughing and Roxas started chuckling at himself too.   
“Roxas, this is amazing.” Axel said as he took a bite of lasagna.   
“It’s nothing special. Cloud can cook better than I can,” Roxas ate a tomato.   
“Cloud’s got a couple years on you, but this is amazing,” Axel ate a few spears of asparagus.   
The two passed dinner amicably. The two boys forgot to save room for dessert, so it was decided that they would get some work done, and then eat it afterward. Roxas made quick work of his algebra, having completed it beforehand in class and he only had a few questions to ask Axel.   
Now they were sitting on the sofa, watching a re-run of yesterday’s Daily Show, eating flan.   
“So why did you change clothes?” Roxas asked. To him, Axel was always attractive, but the skinny jeans and black button up shirt with red accents was, for lack of a better word, smoking.   
“Uh, you noticed, huh?” Axel looked at his flan. Roxas stared; was Axel, blushing? “I just felt like it, I guess.” Axel said, shoving a bite of caramel flan with peach into his mouth. Roxas started laughing.  
“What?” Axel’s cheeks got brighter.   
“What a manly way to eat flan!” Roxas was laughing harder now.  
“Yeah, it felt kinda weird when I did it.” Axel said as he ruffled his friend’s hair. Shortly, the laughter died down and things were quiet between the two. After a few moments, Axel looked over at his Roxie, only to see thoughts whirling in his eyes and a slightly sad expression on his face.  
“Roxas?” he asked, leaving the “is something on your mind?” understood.  
“I…was living with my mother before. Cloud and Sora are my half-brothers. Sally, that’s my mom, had them with her second husband. She divorced him, and Sora and Cloud went to live with their dad. Then she got another boyfriend and had me. Only he broke up with her once she was pregnant. She stopped dating until I was eleven. I think she was seeing Cloud and Sora’s dad and they were trying to get back together, but then he died in a car crash.” Roxas sighed, “Cloud got custody of Sora, Mom started dating again. It seemed like she had a new boyfriend every week. Some of them were…really…bad,” Roxas glanced over at Axel. Axel’s face was compassionate, and slightly worried, but there was not a trace of pity.  
“I’m sorry, this is all pretty boring—“ Roxas started to apologize. He hugged one of his knees to his chest.  
“No.” Axel responded firmly. “I want to know,” Axel flashed him an encouraging smile. “I want to know more about you. Take your time.”   
“So anyway, Mom became a real mess, although she never had it all together to begin with, I guess. So I was the primary man in her life and I took care of her. I made sure the bills were paid, and that she had at least one well-balanced meal a day,” Roxas had a distant smile, but even so his face was filled with hurt. “Six months ago she met Marty, who has two daughters of his own, and his own company. He has…well… a lot of money. So they got married, and a teenage boy would only get in the way, so I’m here, now with Sora and Cloud. Mom’s raising Kairi and Namine, the girls, although from what I’ve seen the nanny takes care of them the most.”  
A tear fell from one of Roxas’s eyes. “They are really great girls. They were the two little girls at the carnival.”   
“So that woman?” Axel’s brow was furrowed. The woman that blew his Roxas off? Who treated him with such coldness and indifference? That passed him like he was no more than an acquaintance—that was his mother???  
“That woman was Sally, my mom.” Both eyelids were over flowing with tears.   
Axel reached over and hugged Roxas, pulling him next to his chest, almost into his lap. Roxas cried harder.   
“I’m sorry I so useless, I’m sorry I’m worthless…such a bother, I’m so sorry,” Roxas cried.  
“Let it out, Roxas. You’re not a bother. You’ll never be a bother to me. I’m sorry she made you think all that, but it’s wrong, Roxas. You’re not worthless. You’re amazing.” Axel tried to calm Roxas, but his compliments seemed to only make the small boy cry harder.   
After a while Roxas calmed down. His breathing became deeper, and he pulled back slightly from Axel, leaning on his side against the back of the couch. Axel held one of his hands in his lap, rubbing his thumb over the boy’s knuckles comfortingly.   
“Why are you so nice to me?” Roxas asked, barely a whisper, but his voice was steady, showing that he had calmed down.  
Axel laughed quietly and leaned his head back over the top of the cushion. He put one foot up on the coffee table. “Oh, because I want to.”   
Roxas laughed lightly in response. “No duh,” Roxas leaned further into the couch, unconsciously making himself parallel to Axel. Axel turned his face, capturing Roxas’s eyes in an intense gaze. “I do it because being around you makes me happy. I feel happiest when you’re happy. I want to share your problems with you, to make them easier. I want to be there for you. I want you to depend on me to be there for you.”  
Roxas looked at Axel, his thoughts pensive, trying to grasp all that Axel just told him: Such simple things are sometimes the hardest to understand.  
Axel took a deep breath and looked forward again. Then he added, barely above a whisper. “But I guess most of all I want you to be happy.”   
“Roxas, I’m home!” Cloud sounded from the front door. Axel and Roxas shot away from each other on the couch. Then looked at each other: Roxas had turned bright red, and a faint pink dusted Axel’s cheeks and across his nose. Cloud looked in on the two. “You two watching Stephen Colbert?” he looked at the TV.   
“err…yeah,” Roxas replied, glancing over his shoulder at his brother. Cloud saw his blush.   
“It’s late you two. Roxas, you should clean up the kitchen. Axel, you should get going, school night,” Cloud stated and the two stiffly got up. “Axel, I’ll walk you out.”  
“See ya,” Roxas said over his shoulder.   
“G’night, Roxas,” Axel said and Cloud following him down the hallway to the door.   
Axel gathered his things at the threshold. “So…Roxas’s mom is a real bitch, huh?” Axel felt extremely awkward with the older blonde, who was looking at him with intensity, but Axel couldn’t figure what emotions were playing behind his brilliant blue eyes.   
Cloud looked shocked for a moment. “Roxas told you?” he asked incredulously. “Anyway, hurt Roxas and I’ll make you wish you were never born.”   
Axel was slightly shocked and instantaneously afraid of the well-built blond. “Heh, older brother protectiveness, huh?” Axel laughed lightly, doing a poor job of masking the anxiety the threat gave him. “Anyway,” he leveled a piercing gaze straight into Cloud’s face, “I have no intention of ever doing anything that would remotely hurt Roxas or cause him more worry than what he’s already been through.”  
Cloud’s face lightened. “Then you have my blessing,” he looked relieved.   
“Erm, thanks.” Axel stepped out of the apartment. Man, the redhead thought as he walked towards his car, Cloud IS Sora’s brother. Talk about emotional turns on a dime. That’ll give you some serious whiplash. The senior boy got into his car, and flushed deep red. I cuddled with Roxas. “Yessss!”


	12. Chapter 12

Zexion was reading in the library during lunch when his phone vibrated in his pocket. New Text from MeinLiebLeider : Dmn. XL iz soooo annoying! He responded to his boyfriend, who was supposed to be practicing with his fellow classmates for an upcoming school performance.   
Demyx sighed in the music room. He really did like his best friend, but sometimes wished he wouldn't bring rainclouds with him during a jam session. Now he was worried about the redhead and his little love interest. He picked up his phone as it flashed.   
New Text from SexyZexy. What did he do this time?   
“Oh Zexion,” the mullethaired guitarist mused. “Even your texting is straight-laced. So cute!”   
New Text from MeinLiebLeider: worri'd bout him & roxi. roxi=missing.   
New Text from SexyZexy. No, he's not. He's here, and seems to be working ferociously over a quite large textbook, presumably maths.   
New Text from MeinLiebLeider: Thnx! U R soooo wonderful. Xoxo. Demdem  
Axel's phone vibrated in his pocket. “Damnit dem, what now? I want to find Roxie and wish him luck!” The redhead narrowed his eyes at the phone.   
New Text from Mullet-Head. Rxi @ lib. So say Zex.   
The redhead bolted to the library. He slowed as he entered through double glass doors. He glanced over to where Zexion always sat. The man looked up. Axel mouthed “Thanks,” and his best friend's boyfriend nodded in both greeting and response, then continued his reading. He took in his small friend, sitting on the edge of a chair, his chest leaning over a table in the commons section of the library. One hand held up his head, another was tapping a pencil lightly but agitatedly on his fingers. There was a mess of notes and papers spread around him, and he seemed to be staring at a page in his algebra text. His knee was even bobbing up and down. Axel came up to him and pulled up a chair. Roxas didn't notice until his tutor was seated next to him.   
“So, Roxie, how many of these have you drunk today, exactly?” Green eyes peered at him curiously as the man lifted an empty coffee cup.   
Roxas blinked at him a few times, as if trying to register what his crush had said to him. He shut his mouth, which had been agape in shock from someone joining him. “Huh?” Roxas blinked at him again.   
“You're so done. Let's get you out of here,” Axel sighed, slightly worried about the dull tint in blue eyes which usually sparked.   
“But...test...next period...” Roxas muttered as Axel gathered his things for him.   
“Yeah, you need some air before you try to do that.” He stood and waited.   
Roxas looked up at him. “But I--”   
“You aren't going to vastly improve your score by trying to jam last minute understanding into your brain. It doesn't work that way. Just come get some air and calm down, that's the best thing you can do to prepare now.” Axel looked down at the boy. Roxas nodded.   
Soon they were at their spot on the roof of the school. Roxas twirled in the wind with his arms out. “It feels so nice!” he beamed. “Thanks, Axel.”  
Axel ruffled his hair, which was already being messed up by the wind. “No problem, Roxas,” He smiled, noting that the blonde's eyes were sparkling again. “How many cups of coffee did you have?”   
“Oh, that was tea. I didn't want to crash during the test, after all.” Roxas looked out over the railing.   
“Yeah, but getting yourself stressed out before the test even starts isn't exactly healthy either,” Axel began kneeding his friend's small shoulder, grimacing at what felt like rocks under the skin.   
“It's kinda like lo--” the small boy reflected aloud then stopped himself abruptly. He cursed himself inwardly for relaxing too much around Axel. He hung his head low to hide the deep blush that was coming over his skin.  
“What did you say?” Axel whispered in the blonde's pink ear.   
“It hurts a little but feels really good,” the blonde said quietly. He looked up at Axel, who was still bending close to his ear. Startled at the closeness, Roxas quickly turned away, gripped the railing tighter, and shuffled his feet. “I just didn't want to disappoint you.” He said silently, but distinctly.  
“Roxas, no one expects you to go from failing math to straight A's. We're working on it, right? So just relax a little,” Axel said from his normal height. The massaging on Roxas's shoulders slowed and he heard his upperclassman whisper in his ear. “Close you eyes for a moment.”   
Axel kept his hands on Roxas's shoulders; now not moving them. He heard Roxas shuffle his feet again and felt the shoulders under his hands slowly start to rise. “Nope, I said 'relax',” Axel murmured again. He cautiously took one hand off the boy's shoulders and slowly ruffled the blond half-spikes half-curls. His other hand felt the shoulder under it slump a little, and he almost thought he heard a content hum issue from the body in front of him.   
He let his hand fall slowly down over Roxas's chest. Finally stopping it at Roxas's abdomen. He pressed slightly in the middle of his stomach. “Take a breath—from here.” He felt as Roxas pushed out on his hand with a deep breath. He then blew it out through his mouth. Axel felt the shoulder slump into a fully relaxed state. He moved his hands forward to clasp them in front of Roxas's heart. Roxas leaned back into him, humming once again.   
God, if he keeps making these noises I won't be able to stop myself from jumping him. He could feel Roxas's slow heartbeat through his fingertips.   
“Mm...maxel, you're warm,” Roxas hummed and looked up at the red head through half-lidded eyes. Both boys looked at each other, both slightly blushing. Axel slowly bent towards Roxas.   
They jumped as the bell signaling the end of lunch rang loudly. They watched each other make grimaces.   
“That bell could wake the dead,” Axel moaned.  
“Ugh, time for algebra,” Roxas rubbed his hands against his eyes.   
“You'll survive,” Axel squeeze his shoulder encouragingly. “Hey, tomorrow, during our normal study time, we can just blow off stress. You won't start on new material til Friday, so that should be fine, right?”   
“Sounds great,” Roxas beamed with enthusiasm.   
“Get going!” Axel yelled at Roxas's back. Roxas waved slightly and headed toward the door. After opening it, the small boy pummeled slightly into the door frame then accelerated his pace through the door. Please don't let him have seen that. Please, the freshman thought to himself as he walked down the stairs.   
Man, did he not get any sleep last night? Axel thought worriedly.   
The test went slower than usual for Roxas, which was both a good and bad thing. It was good because it meant that maybe he understood it more than past tests, and it was bad because it made the test stretch out longer. He was working on it for the full class period, double checking his simple math in the last five minutes.   
As Roxas shakingly brought up the test paper, the teacher looked at him with kindness. “How do you think you did?” the adult asked.  
Horrible as usual. God, I'm such an idiot. Roxas berated himself inwardly. “I honestly don't know.” Roxas muttered. It was the truth, but not the whole truth and definitely not most of the truth.   
The rest of the day went slowly for Roxas. Sora was waiting for him as his last class ended.   
“How do you always get here so early?” Roxas looked the perpetually cheerful middle child. Shouldn't he be the sulky one? The youngest thought to himself.   
“Teachers llluuuurrrrvvvvee me!” Sora drawled. “Let's go.”   
They walked out of the school and started on their way home. Roxas periodically checked his watch.   
“Why do you keep checking the time?” Sora asked as they stopped at a red light. “Do you have a date tonight?” He leaned into his younger brother's personal space.   
“What!?” Roxas blushed deeply, pushing his brother away at the shoulders. “No, of course not Sora. Who'd want to go out with me?”   
“Hmm.” Sora hummed knowingly.   
Roxas shot him a light glare, “You're weird.”   
“Pot,” Sora pointed to Roxas, “Kettle,” he pointed to himself, “Black—what?!” he put his hands in the air.   
“That was soo sixth grade,” Roxas looked at the elder incredulously.  
“Yeah, whatev's!” Sora smiled. “Hey, how was your algebra test?”   
Roxas looked at his watch. “Seventeen minutes. I was hoping you forgot about it.”   
“Not happening. So how was it?”   
Horrible. Like shoving needles under my fingernails. Thanks for bringing it up, Sora. “I don't know,” he said stoically. “We'll have to see Friday how I did.”   
The rest of the walk went by quietly. I hate this part more than the actually taking of the tests. Roxas reflected to himself. Roxas, he saw his teacher and Sora in his mind's eye talking to him, are you stupid? I'm as stupid as ever, he replied. Roxas then played the scenario through with Cloud. Then with Axel. As he told the redhead, Axel's face twisted. “Why would I want to be with an idiot who only gets in the way?” he imagined Axel's usually calming, gentle voice take on a cold, distant tone similar to his mother's. Roxas almost made himself cry. He pushed a shadow of a tear off his eye.   
“We're HERE!” Sora disrupted his reverie in a high pitched voice.  
“Ben and Jerry's?” Roxas looked over at Sora, who was appearing younger by the minute.  
“Yeah,” Sora's eyes sparkled. “Cloud gave me some extra money for us to spend here after school. Congrats on surviving your test,” as he spoke Sora's speech became more and more slurred as if he was drunk, and his mouth salivated.   
“Let's go in and get something before you leave a pool of drool at the welcome mat.” Roxas opened the door and tugged his brother past the illuminated sign that flashed, “Sorry, we're open.” After a couple cones of Cubby Hubby (Sora) and Half Baked (Roxas,) the pair returned home.   
“Hey Sora, Roxas!” Cloud greeted them as they entered the house. “Roxas, how was the test?”   
Roxas plopped down on the couch. “I don't know. I'll find out Friday.” Roxas was getting tired of giving out this excuse. “Cloud is it okay if Axel hangs out here again tomorrow?”   
“Ooo! What 'cha two gonna do?” Sora leaned over the couch and wigged his hips excitedly.   
His little brother flicked his forehead. “You're neither a teenage girl nor a cat.”   
Sora huffed off, muttering, “you're no fun,” as Cloud entered the room. “It's fine if he wants to hang out here, but you guys can go out too. I can make dinner tomorrow instead of you, since you covered for me last time.”   
“Thanks Cloud!” Roxas hugged him energetically.   
“Eww. Roxas go wash up. You're sticky.” Cloud complained. Roxas got up and bounded out of the room, in an almost Sora-like fashion. The eldest brother watched him leave, and began to reflect on the changes he had seen in Roxas over the past few months, especially in the past few weeks since he moved in with Cloud and Sora. Axel, if you hurt him, swear to god I cut your balls off. He's had enough hard times in his life and he's finally acting like a fourteen year old should.  
LINEBREAK XOXOXO LINEBREAK  
As Roxas got out of his last class on Thursday, Axel was waiting for him. Roxas's face lit up when he saw the tall senior. He walked up to him, tilted his head to the side, and remarked, “You're not Sora.”  
“No, I'm way sexier than that student council president,” Axel flashed a smile. “Anyway, I'm kidnapping.”   
“Can't kidnap the willing,” Roxas countered innocently.   
Axel turned bright red and sputtered. “No, indeed not. And I have Cloud and Sora's blessing on this. So, let's head out.”   
“So this is Persia,” Axel cooed, caressing the hood of his car. “I got her used for a good deal.”   
“Eh,” Roxas looked skeptically at the car and climbed in. “Old, but not expired, huh?” Roxas took in the fuzzy dice and flame steering wheel cover.   
Axel turned bright red and started the ignition. He just made a condom joke. Does he know he just made a condom joke? Axel looked over at the blonde who was pursuing the cds in a holder velcroed onto the passenger side folding mirror. “We're driving to one of the suburbs. You should pick out some music.” He has no clue—too innocent for his own good. Axel sighed. Roxas turned to him with a slight expression of worry.  
“If you're tired we don't have to go...” he started apologetically.  
“What?!” Axel straightened up and put the car in gear. “I'm not tired. We're going, we're going.” He began driving. The car ride passed quickly. They listened to a mix CD Demyx had made for his friend. Both singing loudly and playing air guitars with expert technique during “Bohemian Rhapsody.” They ate dinner at a 50's style diner.   
“What do you want for dessert, Roxas? I saw some delicious looking cakes when we walked in.”   
“Milkshakes!” Roxas beamed down at the back of the menu. “Seasalt chocolate?” Roxas stuck his tongue out in disgust.   
“Don't knock it til you try it, Rox,” Axel quoted.  
“Really? Is it good?”   
“I like them.”  
“So, if I get one and don't like it, you'll finish it for me?”  
Axel chuckled. “We could get one and a piece of cake and share both?”   
“That's a great idea!” Roxas beamed.   
They ordered and shortly a light blue milkshake with chocolate flecks in it arrived, as well as a slice of chocolate cheesecake. Roxas bent over the milkshake and took a sip from the straw which hovered dangerously close to the top of the shake.   
Roxas sat back with a perplexed look on his face. Axel immediately began laughing. “What?” Roxas looked at him, slightly miffed at missing a joke.   
“You have whipped cream--” the senior reached over with his finger and wiped the white dollop off the blonde's nose. He then licked it off his fingers. Roxas's eyes went big with shock, then he turned bright red.   
“You could have told me,” Roxas hurriedly wiped his face with a paper napkin.   
“How do you like the shake?” Axel was using all of his restraint not to flirt with the freshman.   
“It's good,” Roxas said in a voice smaller than usual. “Kinda salty, but mostly sweet, and really cold.”   
Usually Roxas was constantly feeling himself drawn to Axel's eyes. Roxas liked his own eyes, and thought that they were his best feature, but they were nothing to the electric green of Axel's. However, for the rest of dessert, Roxas couldn't tear his gaze away from Axel's lips, as if he had never seen them before. Later that night, Roxas would dream about Axel. Brillant green eyes piercing him in the dark. Warm wet lips caressing Roxas's own. Roxas would gasp in the feeling of a shock being transmitted as their lips touched. Roxas felt like he was on fire, and that his body longed, needed for the warmth, the sweet fuel that was Axel. The pressure of Axel's mouth grew firmer against Roxas—something was coming.   
Then he woke up, trembling for more. How can you dream of a kiss, when you've never had one?


	13. Chapter 13

Roxas was able to approach his group of senior friends, coming up behind Demyx. He hoped this angle would mean he wouldn’t be squeezed to death at 7:30 in the morning by the blond musician.  
“Hey.” Roxas smiled at the trio. Axel’s face morphed from tired exhaustion to serendipity.   
“Hey,” Axel said back in a similar, contented fashion.  
“Roxas!” Demyx threw himself on the small freshman. Roxas sighed, being satisfied that at least this was a short distance, and therefore less painful than if the easily excited mullethead had a running start.   
Zexion nodded a greeting, then pulled his boyfriend off.   
Axel and Roxas shared a moment just in one another’s presence. Roxas’s eyes became huge for a moment, in epiphany. Axel tilted his head slightly, as if to ask what caused such a facial expression.  
“You never—“ Roxas said aloud. He never asked how my test was. I know he cares, but why didn’t he ask. Roxas furrowed his brow lightly. He was being considerate? He knew how stressed out I was and didn’t want to pressure me. Roxas’s cheeks pinkened lightly.   
“Roxas, I’m right here. You’re usually not this distracted. Something wrong?” Axel asked, then added as an afterthought. “I care about you, got it memorized?”   
Roxas looked up with distinct shock, and an obvious joy spread over his features.  
“What’s it with you and this ‘got it memorized?’ stuff? You say it like every five minutes?” Demyx asked, slightly annoyed at his best friends new annoying tagline.  
Roxas turned a deeper shade of red. Zexion smiled knowingly. Axel smirked. And Roxas found himself once more saved by the bell announcing that they should go to class.  
Roxas had algebra after lunch. He squirmed the entire period, paying limited attention to the new material, and was obsessing how he did on the test. The teacher, being perhaps wise to know that students wouldn’t pay attention if he handed out the tests at the beginning of class, on a Friday no less; much to Roxas’s chagrin, this bit of wisdom meant an hour or so of pure nail-biting torture. Of course, at the end of the class, Roxas was the last person to get his paper back. As the teacher handed it to him, he smiled and said, “Congratulations.” Roxas quirked an eyebrow in confusion, then looked at his test paper. There was a large, red and circled “89” written on the top of it. Roxas was estatic. He almost couldn’t wait to tell Axel, imagining how proud he would be. How he would smile for Roxas, because of Roxas. And Cloud and Sora would be happy too. His day could not get any better!  
After school, Roxas stared blankly out the window of the city bus as buildings blurred by. He jumped slightly, then pulled out a vibrating cell phone from his pocket.   
New Text Message from Math Tutor: Roxas, we still on for tomorrow?  
Roxas smiled broadly. He almost missed his stop, but rang and got off the bus. He entered the “Vision Center” and checked in with the male secretary who sat behind a clean glass window. After filling out the necessary forms, and copying over his mother’s insurance information, Roxas sat in one of the squeaky clean leather chairs and replied to Axel.   
Meanwhile, Axel sighed as he hung out at Demyx’s.   
“Chill out, man. Didn’t you say little Roxie had some sort of thing today.”   
“Yeah, a vision appointment. Maybe that’s why he’s running into stuff?” Axel reflected to himself.   
Demyx looked at his friend with a soft expression. He really cares for Roxie, doesn’t he? Usually Axel would be overconfident and sarcastic. He’d probably think and say that Roxas’s lack of coordination was from being distracted by Axel’s hotness. The blonde chuckled to himself. Oh, Axel, you’re cute when you’re in love.  
Axel jumped and opened his cell enthusiastically.   
New Text from FoxyRoxie: Yeah, I’ll be at your work on 11th and Walnut around 3pm. Wait for you to get off, then we hang out. Right?   
Axel beamed. Demyx smiled at his friend. “Told you he would respond.”   
Roxas was perusing a National Geographic when his phone vibrated on his leg.   
New Text from ~Axel~. Roxas smiled at himself, imagining the wavy dashes around Axel’s names were flames. Roxas would have put hearts, but worried if someone saw it, what they would say, especially if Axel found out. Roxas clicked open and read, blushing slightly, “Glad you got it memorized.”   
Roxas felt uncomfortable. The plastic weighed on his nose and prongs put a pressure behind his ears. He stared into the illuminated mirror. Big black rims covered his face. He looked like a geek. He was not a “four-eyes.” He was ugly. Roxas nodded passively to the eye doctor and paid forty dollars for the cheapest pair of glasses. The Doctor advised Roxas to always keep them on, less he wanted to continue walking into things and eventually get headaches from having impaired vision. Roxas kept it together until he walked out of the office. Then started crying. He was so ugly now. It’s as if the glasses highlighted and exposed every one of Roxas’s flaws. There was no way—sniffle—that Axel—blow of the nose—would want him, or want to be around him, Roxas corrected himself. He was hideous. He pulled up his knees to his chest on the bench outside of the office as he waited for Cloud to pick him up. After a little while he felt someone sit next to him.   
Cloud rubbed an hand over the small area between Roxas’s shoulderblades. “Do I need to kill Axel?” He asked concerned.  
“No,” Roxas sniffled. “Please don’t it has nothing to do with him,” Roxas was slightly lying. His distress over Axel’s reaction was the biggest reason he was crying. Roxas heaved one last sob before looking up at his brother. “I’m ugly.”   
Cloud took in the splotched skin, red eyes, rhumy nose. Roxas was not a pretty crier, but Cloud knew this was about the big black glasses that now sat clumsily on Roxas’s nose.   
“You’re not ugly. The glasses aren’t the most fashionable, but you still are cute little Roxas under them.” Cloud smiled, still rubbing the boy’s back to pacify him.   
“Am too.” Roxas sniffled, and slowly got up. They walked silently to the car;   
Cloud knew he wouldn’t be able to do much to change Roxas’s mind. Hopefully Axel wouldn’t be an ass and joke about this. Half-way home the university student sighed, and forced himself to ask about his brother’s test, which he knew had been returned earlier that day.   
“I got an,” the youngest shakily responded, staring out of the windshield, “an eighty-nine.”   
Cloud was ecstatic. “Roxas! You got an eighty-nine! That’s practically an A. That’s amazing Roxas! That’s phenomenal!” Cloud ruffled Roxas’s hair amicably. “What do you want for dinner? Choose anything, we’re celebrating!” Cloud smiled at this way to distract his youngest brother and cheer him up a bit.   
“Pizza…with pesto cheese tortellini on top,” Roxas requested, voice shaking.  
“Antonio’s Pizza it is!”   
The festivities with his brothers did distract Roxas, until he lied in bed, unable to sleep, crying, fearing more than ever what Axel’s reaction would be. Everytime he shut his eyes, he could see the tall attractive senior, looking at him with a passive glare, telling him, “You’re such an eyesore.” The words “useless,” “in the way,” and “ugly” resounded over and over in his head. Finally, sometime around 5 am, Roxas drifted to sleep, utterly exhausted from all the crying.   
Around 2 pm Roxas awoke to the sound of his cellphone vibrating on his nightstand. His hands hit his glasses before reaching his cellphone. Roxas groaned to himself. He put them on, feeling slightly sick, and looked at his phone.  
The name that made him so happy yesterday now brought nothing but feelings of dread. New Text from ~Axel~ You excited? I’m excited. See you in an hour. ;-)  
Roxas sighed. He didn’t know how to respond. He knew he couldn’t face Axel. He wandered into the kitchen and made himself a bowl of cereal. He ate as he stared blankly at the television. Cloud and Sora were gone: Cloud at work, Sora undoubtedly at Riku’s. Time drifted by. Roxas still hadn’t responded to his senior tutor. He couldn’t deal with this. It was all too much. Tears ran down a blank face. Eyes stared at the television showing re-runs of Court TV, but Roxas didn’t really see anything. At 3:15 Roxas’s phone vibrated. He picked it up. New Text from ~Axel~. Roxas was too much of a coward to open the message. More time elapsed. Roxas cried, his phone vibrated, and the television continued to show bad quality programming.   
Cloud and Leon entered the apartment quietly at 11pm. Cloud looked down at the couch and Leon came behind him, pulling an arm loosely around the blond’s back.   
Leon smiled at the little high school student. “Does he often fall asleep in the wrong place?” His eyes spoke vast amounts of how cute he found this scene.   
Cloud, on the other hand, was worried. “No, he never does.” Cloud looked at the scene with a different perspective. There was a half eaten bowl of cereal. Roxas never ate breakfast foods for dinner, which means that was probably the only food the blonde had consumed all day. Roxas was in a huddled fetal position, hands fisting tightly around a blanket. He was sleeping, but he wasn’t relaxed. Finally, there was a dim wet mark under where the boy’s face lied on the pillow, but in the wrong place for drool. Roxas had cried himself to sleep there. Cloud sighed, walked around the couch and picked up his brother.   
“Come on, ‘Shas,” he murmured Roxas’s childhood name, then carried him to his and Sora’s room, putting him on the bottom bunk since Sora was spending the night at Riku’s, like he did as always on weekend nights.   
“Mom,” Roxas muttered in his sleep as Cloud put him down and brushed a few loose locks of hair off his face. “Mom, I’m sorry,” Roxas said, sounding as if he was pained, then curled into himself once more, tightly squeezing the blanket, and continued to sleep.   
Sometimes I really hate that bitch. Cloud thought as he closed the door to the room. Leon was waiting for him in the hall. He took one look at Cloud’s darkened expression, then pulled him to his chest in a firm hug.   
“Anything we can do?” Leon asked, as he rubbed Cloud’s back.   
“No,” Cloud whispered. “That’s such a rough age.”   
The two walked to the living room, where they wouldn’t disturb the sleeping boy.   
Leon chuckled to himself, “I was just a brat at that age,” he looked at Cloud with a twinkle in his eye.  
“Oh, ‘brat’ doesn’t even begin to describe—“ Cloud began and the two began wrestling a bit, playfully.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter. This is a really old story for me, and i'm not really looking for any constructive criticism on here. I just wanted to share it. If there are any grammatical errors, however, please let me know, but other than that, I would actually prefer not to hear about "this is poorly written because...."
> 
> It's only up here to entertain you. My writing has much improved since writing this, and I don't feel the need to revisit an old exercise. 
> 
> I hope you did enjoy! Please leave kudos and any compliments about the story. Thanks!

Roxas rubbed his eyes as he walked up to the school grounds Monday morning. He circumvented the main entrance, deciding he could put off seeing Axel a little longer if he entered the school from the back. His whole body felt horrible and weak. He walked slowly through the abandoned hallways in the back of the school.   
“Yo blondie! I’ve been meaning to talk to ya!” a voice called out. Roxas turned to his left, to see Seifer and his two backups a mere 10 feet away.   
“You’ve been hanging out with those flaming seniors a lot. You batting on the other side of the plate now?” Seifer’s tone was harsh.   
“W-we’re just friends…and Axel tutors me…in algebra.” Roxas put his head down. He didn’t want to anger Seifer, but didn’t want to give him any reasons to beat him up either.   
The bell rang signaling first period. The hallway would soon be filled with students. Seifer’s stooges walked past Roxas, and as Seifer passed him, he threw a quick punch into Roxas’s gut. It was quick, but it was hard, and Roxas collapsed on the floor, panting for breath against the pain in his stomach.   
“Just when we thought that disgusting trash was about to graduate out of here they get a fan club,” Seifer leered and he pushed Roxas back with his foot. “See ya around, Roxie.”   
Roxas spent lunch hiding out in one of the bathrooms. He still couldn’t face Axel. Sora had told Roxas between classes that Axel was frantically trying to find him and find out “what’s been going on” to which Sora responded that he wasn’t Axel and Roxas’s “marriage counselor.” Roxas listened to Sora’s gripes passively, before heading out of sight. He would deal with Sora’s delusions later; he had too much going on right now anyway. Roxas lucked out and was able to leave his last class early, thus ensuring that Axel couldn’t find him if he went to his class before Roxas got out. Monday night he just decided to turn off his phone. Axel was still sending him text messages. He called once as well. Roxas had another restless night.   
Tuesday Roxas dragged himself into school via the side entrance. The hallways were once again abandoned, and Roxas prayed not to run into any bullies again. Roxas hid in the bathroom again during lunch. He really missed Axel, but now his problems had multiplied. Not only was he useless and ugly, but he was also avoiding the redhead and thus causing him worry and trouble. He didn’t want this for any one. He didn’t know what to do.   
As class was winding down, Roxas’s professor asked him to go on another errand, letting him out of the classroom early. It led him to the back of the school, so Roxas decided to exit there.   
That was a very bad idea.  
“Hey Four-eyed Fag-lover!” he heard the voice behind him just as he saw Seifer’s two goons standing ahead of him. He was trapped. Roxas gauged between the two goons, who had never hit him, and Seifer, who had, and tried to run past the two goons. No good, they kicked him and he fell hard on the brushed concrete floor.   
Meanwhile, Riku and Sora were desperately trying to find Roxas. During football practice, Riku had heard Seifer bragging about “taking Roxas down,” and had tried to talk him down from it, but was not convinced that Seifer would back off, even though Riku threatened to have him thrown off the team. Riku and Sora met back up after trying the “divide and conquer” method: searching bathrooms and abandoned classrooms. Demyx bounded up to them and saw them out of breath.   
“What’s up guys?” Demyx tilted his head at the two teens gasping for breath.   
“Roxas is missing,” sora panted.  
“Yeah, Axie’s pining over him too—“  
“No,” Riku corrected. “Really missing, and Seifer’s looking for him.”   
Demyx’s eyes grew large. “Well, he’s definitely not out front. Sora, you check the side exit, Riku and I’ll check the back.” The three teens began their search again.   
))))))))))))))((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))  
Roxas felt as if a bomb had exploded on his jaw and his head snapped back, glasses flying off and bouncing on the floor.   
“Baby gonna cry now? Cry for your little gay lover?” Seifer heckled him. Roxas tasted blood in his mouth. The metallic was mixed with the after taste of bile, after Seifer had landed several firm kicks to the freshman’s stomach. Another explosion of white on the other side of his face. Now he felt as if his eye was being attacked by thousands of red hot needles.   
He reached his limit. His bravery was gone. He was crying, begging for them to stop.   
“SEIFER YOU BASTARD!”   
Was that Demyx’s voice? Roxas fell on the ground, thankful for the cool relief of the floor. He heard people running.   
“You are so off the team Seifer. You getting expelled if I have anything to do with it!”  
Riku?   
“Roxas, can you hear me?” Demyx’s voice was close and tender.  
Roxas moaned in response and pushed himself up.  
“Take your time there, champ.” Riku said.   
For a while Roxas just stayed on a fours, trying to catch his breath. Riku looked over at Demyx, “Call Sora, tell him where we are.”   
Shortly after there were more footfalls. Roxas was sitting up now. Back against the wall.   
“Did they punch you in the ribs at all?” Riku asked tenderly.   
“No, just stomach. And, you know, my face.” Roxas muttered.  
“Oh my god, Roxas!” Sora was holding his brother’s hand tenderly. “Riku, do we need to take him to the hospital? Roxas, do you need to go to the hospital?   
Roxas shrugged. Riku replied, “he probably just needs some rest and whole lot of pain relievers. Roxas, do you feel really sleepy?”   
Roxas looked at Riku like he was crazy. “No, I just got the tar beat out of me. Why would I be sleepy?”   
Demyx laughed. “There’s our Roxas!”   
Riku smiled, “You would if you got a concussion from when you face planted with the floor.”  
Zexion arrived. “Let’s get him cleaned up then go to the Diner.” Sora, Riku, and Demyx nodded in agreement.  
“I’m not really hungry,” Roxas offered, not wanting to be in a social setting.   
Zexion crouched in front of him, and pulled out a perfectly square, perfectly soft handkerchief, and gently wiped some of Roxas’s blood away from his face.   
Zexion spoke in a tone so firm and stern that everyone, save Demyx, was shocked to hear. “You’ve been really pale the past couple of days when you arrive at school, and now you’ve lost blood. So we can either bring you to a hospital where they will probably hook you up to an IV to give you fluids, or we can bring you to the Diner, where you will eat a cheeseburger to help replenish all the iron you just loss. And take another one to go.”   
Roxas tried to scowl, failed miserably, then conceded, “As long as I can have a milkshake too.”   
The boys helped him up and shortly they were on their way to the Diner.   
Once their food arrived (enough food sat on the table before the five teens to feed an army,) Zexion leveled his gaze at Roxas once more.  
“Roxas, Seifer can be relentless. If he’s going to continue to target you, then you need someone with you at all time,” Zexion gazed deep into vacant cerulean eyes.  
Demyx squeezed his boyfriend’s hand. “We’ve had a—problem, run in? issue with him before.”   
“Yes, and then Seifer was acquainted with my friend Lexaeus and he’s left me alone since.” Zexion almost smirked.   
“By the way, where the hell is Axel for all of this?” Riku stated angrily.   
Sora, Roxas, and Demyx sighed.   
Riku looked at Zexion, “Did I not get the memo?”   
Demyx replied, “Roxas is avoiding Axel for some reason.”   
“Come to think of it,” Sora began. Roxas could almost see the Sora-Cloud shared chromosomes kick into functioning. “Did he do something? Did he pressure you into anything?”  
“No,” Demyx and Roxas replied. Sora scowled at Demyx.  
“Sora, take a deep breath, and try to realize that you are being overprotective at the moment,” Riku stated calmly.   
“Roxas, I think I speak for all of us when I ask,” Demyx looked at the three other intervention-ers at the table, “What the hell is going on?”   
Roxas made a small noise, half groan, half pained noise, and curled his head behind his arms.   
“Shas?” Sora said worriedly, and rubbed his baby brother’s back calmingly.   
“Roxas,” Zexion’s voice came calmly this time. Roxas looked up, his eyes brimming with tears. “No running away now. You’re surrounded by friends who care about you.”   
All at once, Roxas’s eyes were opened. He looked around him, and saw love and concern on the faces of each of the four boys who surrounded him. They would accept him, no matter his weaknesses or faults, and if he talked about his weaknesses with them, they would probably help him become stronger. He knew that Cloud and Leon would be the same, and…maybe even…Axel. Roxas started to cry full out large tears now, “You guys! What did I do to deserve such great friends?”   
The waitress walked up as Roxas began crying from happiness. Sora pulled his brother into a hug, to help him hide such a display in front of a total stranger. Once the waitress had switched out empty cups with refilled drinks, she left.   
“Oh Shas, you’re back to being a crybaby again.”   
“You—sniffle—were—sniffle—one—heave of breath—too!” Roxas replied and the entire table laughed.   
After a few content silent moments went by, Roxas had stopped crying. Riku chimed, “I think I need to get going.”   
Sora turned to Roxas, “Roxas, you going to talk to Axel?”  
“Yeah.”  
“He doesn’t get off of work for another 45 mintues, but we can hang with you here until he arrives.”   
“That sounds good,” Roxas replied and Sora nodded.   
The brunette and silver-haired boy left the Diner holding hands.   
Roxas learned that Zexion liked to drink Coke without any ice and with lemon juice squeezed in it. Demyx liked sandwiches and burgers with either ketchup or mayonnaise, but not with both on at the same time.   
Time flew, and Demyx saw a lanky redhead enter the Diner from behind Roxas. Zexion and Demyx were quick to get out of their seats, albeit Zexion did this with much more grace than Demyx managed.   
“Roxas, why have you—What the hell?” Axel stared at the small blonde, whose jaw was swollen, face decorated with bandages, and a black eye forming.   
“Bye guys,” Demyx chimed.  
“You have a lot of catching up to do,” Zexion remarked. It was unclear to whom it was directed. It applied to both Roxas and Axel.   
Axel sat down across the table from Roxas. The table had been emptied except for one milkshake glass, which now sat between the two. It was so strangely reminiscent of a previous visit to a diner, before everything had fallen apart.   
“I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you,” Roxas stated quietly.   
“Did I do something wrong? Did I do something to upset you?”   
“—No” Roxas interrupted him. “It was me.” He said quietly. “I don’t know. Everything kinda snowballed. I have to wear glasses. I got them on Friday. And I hate how I look in them. I felt like a freak, and I guess I just…” Roxas couldn’t continue.   
Axel sighed. “Where are these glasses?”   
Roxas pulled them out of a pocket and slid them gently onto his bruised face. Axel sat up slightly and kissed the blonde’s forehead. “You look as beautiful as ever, Roxas.  
“Anyway, your kind of beauty isn’t skin deep. It shines from inside you. Your kindness, and your joy are part of your beauty. It’s part of who you are, Roxas. No glasses, or bruises can take that away from you.”   
“You’re too good for me,” a few tears escaped Roxas’s puffy eyes.   
“No, I strive to be as good as you are for me,” Axel smiled warmly. “Better?”   
Roxas nodded.   
“I’m glad,” Axel smiled broadly, “Now, who the hell beat you up?”   
“Oh, that.” 

Roxas and Axel were official dating after that night in the diner. Seifer was not only expelled from school, but also mysteriously beat up. His goons never bothered Roxas again; in fact, they tried to avoid him.   
Roxas slowly opened up to more and more people. By the time he graduated, he was the sweetheart of the senior class. Roxas scowled at the nickname.   
Axel and Roxas continued dating. The longer they knew each other, the more they liked each other. They did have the occasionally fight, but nothing that made them feel estranged from one another. Deep down inside, they had a connection, and when times were tough, they trusted and depended on it. They trusted and depended on one another.   
And that, my friends, is something you may learn, if you have a high school tutor.


End file.
